Toxic mushroom cook tells murder trial wild fungi have 'more flavour'17 hours ago Share Save Lana Lam, Katy Watson and Simon Atkinson in Morwell and Sydney Share SaveWatch: Three things you need to know about Australia's mushroom murder trialAn Australian woman who cooked a toxic mushroom meal has told her murder trial she has long been a mushroom lover, but more recently developed a taste for wild fungi varieties that have "more flavour". Erin Patterson has pleaded not guilty to the murder of three relatives, and the attempted murder of another, after serving them death cap mushrooms at her home in Victoria in July 2023. Ms Patterson - during her second day on the witness stand - told the jury she began foraging for wild mushrooms during the Covid pandemic, years before the fatal meal. "I mainly picked field mushrooms," she told the court, explaining she sometimes foraged with her two children. She recounted the first time she tried wild mushrooms, cutting off a small part before cooking it in butter.