Hedgehog fungus. Cream-coloured mushrooms, excellent to eat, easily found in woods from late summer to late autumn (US: fall). They have a sort of downy white stem leading up to a cap which is centrally depressed and under which are masses of little spines, giving the mushroom its English name. It is quite a good mushroom to collect as it is easily distinguished from other mushrooms, is a relative of the chanterelle, and, like it, has good flavour and good retention of texture on long cooking.
Jihočeská Niva is a wheel of crumbly blue cheese made with cow's milk exclusively from milk from the designated area in South Bohemia. It has an ivory to cream-coloured paste with regular green to bluish-green veins. A cream to light brown rind may show some signs of the blue veining and have a partly waxy finish. This cheese contains 50% fat (dry). It may be found in the following dimensions: 18-20 cm (7-8") diameter by 10 cm (4") deep, weighing around 2.8 kg (6 lbs). Affinage is at least four weeks and then wrapped in aluminium foil. The flavour is salty and pungent.
