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Wandering the streets of that elegant city, we spotted a produce stand with fresh, reasonably priced boletes and chanterelles, both from the province of Zamora. They also had a variety of packaged dried mushrooms: Marasmius oreades, Cantharellus lutescens, and a Calocybe. We bought some of the fresh mushrooms to take back to Tudela but couldn’t decide about the dried ones.
At lunch we resolved to go back and buy all the dried varieties available. But the shop did not open after the siesta—and we had to leave that day! We searched for a similar selection in other Basque towns we visited but found nothing comparable. We were able to locate a 150-gram jar of dried Cantharellus lutescens to bring back—delicious!
In a visit to the province of Soria (source of many of the dried mushrooms), we learned of the seta del cardo (mushroom of the thistle), which our hosts consider the most delicious mushroom of all. We were amazed to learn that it’s Pleurotus eryngii (King Oyster or Thistle Mushroom).
Other highlights of the trip: the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela (with present-day pilgrims walking and cycling) and the wine route through Rioja. And the Basque chefs do live up to their reputations!
Diana Chase and Ernie Hudson
FFSC Secretary and Consort
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