I know many people who feel slightly depressed when the day gets shorter, the weather cooler and the sunshine ever more elusive. But I personally get quite a buzz when the leaves change colour, because it means that we’ll be getting boxes of freshly harvested fruits and vegetables from our suppliers.

My head chefs and I meet in earnest (mostly late into the night after service) to discuss our new menus for the season, and it’s always exciting to think up ideas and new ways to make the most of the season’s aubergines, pumpkins and, of course, wild mushrooms.

At this time of the year, we must go through tens of kilos of fresh ceps, girolles, morels and chanterelles every day at the restaurants. The mushrooms are sautéd, roasted, puréed, stuffed and made into soups and garnishes. When the quality is as good as it gets, we let the mushrooms take centre-stage and serve them as the main flavouring in risottos and pastas. And these are always the first items to sell out on our menus.

My personal favourite are ceps because I adore their unmistakable nutty flavour and their woody muskiness, even though they are nowhere near as robust as portabellos. Fresh ceps need very little done to them – simply fry them with a knob of butter and a little olive oil and season well.

At other times of the year, I make do with the dried variety, which are quite concentrated in flavour, so I’ll mix a handful of reconstituted dried ceps, along with most of the soaking liquid, with a pack of the ever-faithful chestnut mushroom.

Speaking of portabellos, they make a fantastic substitution for meat. If ever you are at a loss for a vegetarian option, the versatile portabello is your answer to providing an earthy, meaty substance to pretty much any dish that requires it.

It is probably one of the most cultivated mushrooms – in fact, it’s just an overgrown version of the brown chestnut mushroom – but to me, just because it is common doesn’t mean it deserves any less respect than its wild cousins. True, the stems are very tough, but they do wonders in stocks, soups and sauces.

I’ve talked about this before, but try as much as you can not to wash mushrooms, especially the wild ones. Use a brush or damp cloth to wipe away any peat moss from the stems and if you find a worm or two, just get rid of them – the worms I mean.

If you’re impatient and do decide to wash the mushrooms, spread them out on a cloth and dry them out in an airy place, or you’ll end up with soaked sponges with diluted flavour.

I could go on ranting (and I haven’t even mentioned the Rolls-Royce of the mushroom world – truffles), but I don’t want you to think that I’ve converted to some sort of new fungi religion, so here are this week’s recipes. They are all really easy, and I’m sure you will enjoy the results.

Ceps and Shallots on Toasted Brioche

Mushroom and Taleggio Pizza

Flat-Cap Mushroom Soup

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