Marasmius oreades, a small, common, edible mushroom which is also called champignon (the general French name for mushroom, transferred in English to this one species), champion (in the north of England), and Scotch bonnet.
The cap is cream or very pale brown, conical, and seldom much more than 3 cm (a generous inch) in diameter. Under it the gills are distinctively wide spaced and paler in colour. The stem, also pale, is thin and tough. The mushroom resists drought by shrivelling up (the meaning of its generic name is ‘shriveller’) and filling out again when it rains. It grows in open fields from summer to autumn. It is found in N. America and Australia as well as throughout Europe.
A close relation, M. scorodonius, which is known in Germany as Küchenschwindling, and in Russia as chesnochnik (little garlicky mushroom), smells of fresh garlic.
The ‘fairy rings’ of darker green grass in fields are caused by successive generations of the mushrooms spreading out from an original small clump. These mushrooms are found in large numbers; just as well because they are so small.
Their flavour is excellent. They may be eaten raw; or cooked in a little olive oil with seasoning; or used in stews or soups. They can also be dried by discarding the stems, stringing the caps on a thread, and hanging them up for a few days. Once dried, they keep for a long time. In the middle of the 19th century it was the practice of the French ‘à la mode’ beef shops in London to use dried ‘champignons’ to heighten the flavour of that dish. And they are traditionally the mushrooms which are added to English steak and kidney pies.
Alan Davidson was a distinguished author and publisher, and one of the world's best-known writers on fish and fish cookery. In 1975 he retired early from the diplomatic service—after serving in, among other places, Washington, Egypt, Tunisia, and Laos, where he was British Ambassador—to pursue a fruitful second career as a food historian and food writer extraordinaire. Among his popular books are Seafood of South-East Asia, North Atlantic Seafood, and Mediterranean Seafood. In 2003, shortly before his death, he was awarded the Erasmus Prize for his contribution to European culture.
