Dave Walford stands in an old apple cool room surrounded by bags of mushrooms. King browns, shiitake, lion's mane and oyster mushrooms. He grew up in England's West Country, foraging for wild mushrooms such as boletus and chanterelles. He moved to Melbourne and cooked in some of the best kitchens in the city, including Cecconi's, and Salix in Balnarring where he worked with Bernard McCarthy. His love of mushrooms continues. When the cool rains fall on the warm earth each autumn, he grabs a knife and basket and forages the tracks around Red Hill and Main Ridge
In 2019, he and his wife, Samantha Blair, came across a mushroom farm. The owner had unfortunately developed an allergy to mushrooms. After some conversations, the owner realised their business was in safe hands. Mushroom Forestry was spread across insulated rooms at the back of a former apple processing centre between Tyabb and Hastings. Dave applied his chef’s mind to the business, arranging production like a chef would carefully plan a meal. He also knew how to predict peak demands and slack periods in the restaurant game and altered his mushroom production to suit.
Dave grows the mushrooms in plastic bags of rehydrated, pelletised sawdust mixed with soy bean husks. The plastic bags, about the size of a large loaf of bread, are sterilised in hot water. "Any naturally occurring fungus spores could land on them, grow, and cause problems," he said. He adds different types of mushroom spores and leaves them to grow on shelves in dark, warm rooms. The fungus grows into the wood sawdust mix, spreading its white thread-like filaments to decompose the sawdust. After six or so weeks, Dave moves the bags of fungus to a much cooler room to simulate the arrival of autumn. The fungus begins to show signs of producing little mushrooms and are then moved to a warm, humid room to allow the mushrooms to grow. When they’re ready, Dave harvests and packs the plump, meaty mushrooms and delivers them to restaurants and retailers. The spent sawdust is used by chef Simone Watts in her regenerative kitchen garden at Barragunda at Cape Schanck.
Mushroom Forestry mushrooms are served by some of the best chefs in the state, many of whom are cooking here on the Peninsula. You can find them on the menu at 10 Minutes by Tractor, Paringa Estate and Barmah Park. Tedesca Osteria chef and co-owner Brigitte Hafner said: "They are amazing! We roast the shiitake mushrooms in the wood-fired oven with nothing but cultured butter and salt. They are so good they don't need anything else." Brigitte uses the roasted mushrooms to accompany grilled King George whiting served with Korean pepper sauce.
Dave still works in the kitchen with his old boss Bernard, this time at Banksia wine bar in McCrae. "There's a wood-fired pizza oven in the kitchen which I fire up and roast some king brown and shiitake mushrooms. Mushrooms love fire and really take on the smoky flavour." He serves them with Kia Ora salmon cooked in a beurre blanc and finished with spinach. "I may be biased, but they are the best mushrooms on the Peninsula."
Buy Mushroom Forestry mushrooms from Torello Farm, Dromana; Benton Rise Farm, Mornington; and Red Hill Cellar & Pantry.