Mountain Mushrooms
This simple dish was inspired by 14th and 15th century recipes created for aristocrats and royal banquets, using "mountain mushrooms"—high altitude species like porcini, morels, chanterelles, and saffron milk caps.
by Rene Seltzer
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Lactarius deliciosus. © Christian Schwarz (CC-BY-NC) (from inaturalist.org, obs. 101589254)
Method
Trim and clean the mushrooms. If they are large, cut them in half or quarters.
Cook in boiling water for about 10 minutes, then drain thoroughly.
In the meantime, Finely chop the onion.
In a frying pan, sweat the onion in a little olive oil until very soft.
Add the boiled mushrooms, raise the heat to high, and sauté for a minute.
Season with salt and the spices.
Lower the heat, cover the pan, and simmer for about 15 minutes. From time to time, check on the mushrooms and give them a stir.
Serve when golden brown.
Recipe contributed:
March
2000
I found a book called The Medieval Kitchen; Recipes from France and Italy at the Frick, a beautiful old mansion build in the late 1800s next to Central Park, New York City.
In it there was a simple recipe: "Take mountain mushroom and boil them; and discard the water; then fry them with finely sliced onion, or with white of leek, spices, and salt and serve."
Here is a similar recipe from Tuscany. You can use cultivated mushrooms if you can find nothing else.
To accompany this side dish, try Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyard's 1997 Paso Robles Duriff. An intense, deep ruby color, with hints of blackberry, woody, grass on the nose, the palette hints of plum, and the finish up front and chalky. Yum!
Objective:
Side or first course
Total Time:
About 45 minutes
Yield:
4 servings
Suggested Mushrooms:
- Chanterelle (Cantharellus californicus, Cantharellus formosus, Cantharellus subalbidus)
- Morel (Morchella sp.)
- Oyster / king oyster mushroom (Pleurotus eryngii, Pleurotus ostreatus)
- Porcini (Boletus edulis, Boletus regineus, Boletus rex-veris)
- Saffron milk cap (Lactarius deliciosus)
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Ingredients
1 lb. wild (or cultivated) mushrooms
1 small onion (or leek)
Olive oil
1 pinch freshly ground pepper
1 pinch ground ginger
1 pinch freshly grated nutmeg
2 pinches ground coriander seed
Salt