The very wet summer has robbed us of one of the great delights of life: the field mushroom is as scarce as hens' teeth this year.

But there has been a great flush of mushrooms in forest areas.

That is great news for the mycologists (mushroom experts) but will leave many of us in the dark as most of us are afraid to eat anything other than the field mushroom.

In fact, best practice in the area of eating mushroom species that you are not sure of is to leave a sample of what you have just eaten on the mantelpiece so the pathologist will be able to determine the exact cause of death.

Mycologist and lecturer in Culinary Arts in Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology Louis Smith says he is going to change all of this.

He was first introduced to fresh wild forest mushrooms while on work experience as a chef in hotels in northern Europe.

There, he would go to the forest with friends to pick ceps and chanterelle (below). Returning to Ireland, Louis found fresh wild mushrooms were not available to buy and spent many years seeking out edible varieties in forests and woodlands throughout the country.

"The good news is that this year may be a poor one for field mushrooms but I have already had spectacular success in finding great early flushes of yellow chanterelle," he said.

Louis, who has written a dissertation on wild edible forest mushrooms of Ireland, is compiling a book on the subject which will be published shortly.

He is working with a group of mycologists brought together by the National Council for Forest Research to preserve forests where the mushrooms grow.