Bovist: the Dutch wild-picked summer mushroom
Several types of edible mushrooms grow in the Netherlands. Despite that, it is not advisable to pick them yourself. Our ‘wild picker’ occasionally comes across very cool mushrooms, such as this bovist.
The bovist is a spherical wild mushroom without a cap or stem. The skin of the bovist is slightly leathery, so it is best to peel it. After peeling and cutting into thick slices, the bovist is great for grilling or baking. The bovist has a nice mushroom flavor with a lot of depth, a taste as we recognise in other famous wild mushrooms.
The giant bovist can easily reach 50 cm in diameter. The giant bovist is one of the ‘summer’ mushrooms, it likes fairly warm and humid weather. From the end of May to the end of September they can be found in meadows, moist deciduous forests and parks. Due to their size they cannot be confused with other mushrooms, a white football in a meadow could lead to confusion. When young, the bovist is beautifully white.