‘Best in batter with garlic and parsley’, suggests Marcel Bon, but, despite a name that you might associate with Michelin stars, Bon (1925-2014) was a mycologist not a chef. In The Mushrooms and Toadstools of Britain and Europe, he tells us that Lawyer’s Wig, also known as Shaggy Ink Cap, Coprinus comatus, is best when young and white, before the cap starts to turn inky, but that it is rather watery, hence his serving suggestion.
Bon warns that the closely related Common Ink Cap is not recommended for eating because it causes ‘flushing in the face, sweating and palpitation if eaten with alcohol’. Small wonder then that the drug Antabuse, used for treating alcoholics, is derived from it.
This single specimen was growing beneath bushes by the path near the car park at Newmillerdam Country Park but lawyer’s wig is also found in pastures, on bare ground in rubbish dumps and on lawns.