The Hunt for the Elusive Porcini Mushroom

Not sure what section to post this in, but early this morning I went "shopping" for porcini mushrooms in the local forest:



in search of the elusive Boletus edulis shown here in hiding:



Here is a fine specimen that was a little too slow for this intrepid hunter:



The trophy shot:



Meat ain't meat till it's in the pan:



Bill/SFNM

Wow -- what a treasure trove. Porcinis are such wonderful mushrooms, and to have so many to work with—plus the satisfaction of the hunt. I'm envious of both the location and knowledge that enable you to enjoy such bounty.

Excuse my ignorance here, but do porcinis grow predominately in pine forests or in certain climates? The restaurants in a part of a balmier part of Switzerland I hiked in years ago all were serving fresh, local porcinis in a variety of dishes. Even if I had a clue as to what I was doing, I would be afraid that the porcini I was picking was not really a porcini. Even the distinctive-looking morel has an evil twin. What sort of assurances did you have that you were indeed picking a porcini?

aschie30 wrote:Excuse my ignorance here, but do porcinis grow predominately in pine forests or in certain climates? The restaurants in a part of a balmier part of Switzerland I hiked in years ago all were serving fresh, local porcinis in a variety of dishes. Even if I had a clue as to what I was doing, I would be afraid that the porcini I was picking was not really a porcini. Even the distinctive-looking morel has an evil twin. What sort of assurances did you have that you were indeed picking a porcini?

The porcini prefers pine forests but is also found amongst oak, birch, aspen, etc. In these parts, mixed in with the porcinis are aspen boletes which look similar, are safe, and taste great. When the stalk of the aspen bolete is cut, it turns blue. I only hunt for ungilled mushrooms such as porcinis and chantrelles which are easier to identify.

Bill/SFNM

Hi,

The mushroom associated with the name porcini (Boletus edulis) has been found twice in the last two years in the Chicago area and one example each time. There is better luck finding them in Michigan, though the season won't begin for another month or so here.

Chanterelles are coming into season right about now.

Regards,

I'm envious of Bill's knowledge and location also.

Is there anywhere in the Chicagoland area where one can buy porcinis? Besides Whole Foods (whose mushrooms tend to vary in quality), where else is a good place to shop for interesting mushrooms?

wow ... what is that ? $300, $400, $500 worth of mushrooms ?!

tem wrote:wow ... what is that ? $300, $400, $500 worth of mushrooms ?!

And the amazing thing is that the vast majority will go unpicked. We're taking advantage of the abundance now because some years there are very few, but we've had great rains this year. I'm drying the majority of my haul. The aroma of the dried porcinis is nothing at all like those I have purchased. There is a sweetness that is intoxicating.

Bill/SFNM

So, can we visit if we get out that way?

Like others here, Bill, I am most definitely a little (actually very) jealous. And you give yet another reason -- hitherto unknown to me -- why I'd love to move to New Mexico.

How do you go about drying them? Any special methods? Problems? Given the cost of the good dried ones from Italy and the relative cost of the lower quality dried ones from elsewhere, you've got quite a haul there.

Antonius

Antonius wrote:Like others here, Bill, I am most definitely a little (actually very) jealous. And you give yet another reason -- hitherto unknown to me -- why I'd love to move to New Mexico.

How do you go about drying them? Any special methods? Problems? Given the cost of the good dried ones from Italy and the relative cost of the lower quality dried ones from elsewhere, you've got quite a haul there.

Antonius

Antonius,

When I moved here from The City, I had little idea of the culinary wealth of this area. I am regularly surprised.

I use a simple Excaliber food dehydrator. Wipe off dirt, slice, place on screens, and set at 125F for about 8 hours. Couldn't be simpler.

I still have some fresh specimens. Pizza tomorrow. But what I've started dreaming about are the porcini ravioli in a champagne cream sauce as prepared at Il Mulino in NYC. Anyone have a recipe?

Bill/SFNM

Bill/SFNM wrote:And the amazing thing is that the vast majority will go unpicked. We're taking advantage of the abundance now because some years there are very few, but we've had great rains this year. I'm drying the majority of my haul. The aroma of the dried porcinis is nothing at all like those I have purchased. There is a sweetness that is intoxicating.

Bill/SFNM

That brings to mind a point belabored in Jacque Pepin's The Apprentice. He tells about how where ever his country home is, he makes a point to "forage" for food; how people don't know how much fresh food is right underfoot and it's a disservice to Mother Earth.

I recently purchased a house in Michigan, and am just now learning that, especially when I see bountiful cherry trees in a front yard go unharvested.

And, yes, chanterelles are coming into season in Michigan.

aschie30 wrote:That brings to mind a point belabored in Jacque Pepin's The Apprentice. He tells about how where ever his country home is, he makes a point to "forage" for food; how people don't know how much fresh food is right underfoot and it's a disservice to Mother Earth.

I recently purchased a house in Michigan, and am just now learning that, especially when I see bountiful cherry trees in a front yard go unharvested.

And, yes, chanterelles are coming into season in Michigan.

Aschie, I used to think foraging meant to go shopping at the farmers' market.

We should have chanterelles in about a month. I'm told that there are matsutake mushrooms here so I'll be keeping an eye out.

Bill/SFNM

Having consumed countless porcinis without ill-effect, I turned my sights to chanterelles. These gems are somewhat rarer than porcinis which are abundant close to the trailheads. To get to the chanterelles, we had to walk two hours through pine and aspen forests, over streams:



to La Vega, a scenic meadow at 10,800 feet:



Where nearby were hiding patches of chanterelles:



harvesting a nice batch of apricot-scented chanterelles:



No sign of morels which should be coming in a few weeks, I hope.

Bill/SFNM

Bill/SFNM,

Magnificent pix of mushrooms and environs.

It's surprising that morels are still to come there -- hereabouts, they come in the springtime. I went up to St. Louis once around May, I think, and came back with several Hefty bags full. Hung them in my basement, dried and ate 'em for months.

Hammond

HI,

I have heard of morels at different elevations on a mountain at different periods of time. Going from the bottom up.

The morel season we enjoy in April-May can be a January event in Texas. Those who live in the Carbondale area get their morels much earlier than we do on the northern edge of the state.

So Bill you get morels in August-September? When you do find them I am sure you will share with us your photos!

Regards,

On a related note, MAKE magazine (http://www.makezine.com) has an article on culturing mushrooms, using a sterile environment created with a plastic file box and a HEPA air filter, cultured on a mixture of sawdust and agar, grown in ball jars with a filter atop them, then encouraged to put up fruiting bodies with extra moisture and/or a temperature change.

This sounds cool enough for me to try... can you spare a hunk of a stem when you bring something deliciouis back? Do you know if porcini's and chanterelles require particular tree root systems?

JoelF wrote: Do you know if porcini's and chanterelles require particular tree root systems?

The name for the tree-fungi relationship is mycorrhizal relationships.

I have read the absence of a beneficial fungi associated with a tree species will cause the tree to have slow growth and not thrive as well. This has been especially challenging problem for forest managers when they grow trees for lumber. They may locate a favorable climate where they believe their favored tree will thrive, then absent their fungal partner the trees fail to thrive. They have been experimenting with introducing the fungal partners, though I don't know what came of that.

I have an Italian friend who learned he could buy oak saplings innoculated with truffle spawn in Italy. He was prepared to buy land in the Chicago area to grow these trees and wait for the day he could begin harvesting. While I am not sure if the scheme might have worked, he never got beyond the Customs and Ag issues related to this importation. This topic still comes up in conversation because by now he might have been able to begin harvesting.

On a separate note, another mycology friend went on an actual truffle hunt. She did not come back from the experience with a favorable impression. To get to the truffles, you have to dig into the root system of the tree, which she felt was damaging to the tree.

Regards,

Bill, great post and stunning pics. I haven't foraged any this year and having relocated have to find spots here.
I'm surprised too that you get morels at this time.

While mycorhiza (myco = mushroom; rhiza = root) may have a symbiotic relationship - mostly the fruiting bodies (i.e., the mushrooms) appear when the host tree is dying/dead.

While mycorhiza (myco = mushroom; rhiza = root) may have a symbiotic relationship - mostly the fruiting bodies (i.e., the mushrooms) appear when the host tree is dying/dead.

At the height of the Dutch Elm disease in the mid-1970's, there were a lot of morels growing around these dying and dead Elm trees.

Lot's of interesting information to read with an internet search.

Regards,

Well, today porcinis were available at the mushroom stand at the Evanston Farmer's Market - so, remembering that the morels I'd bought earlier in the year were a lot less expensive than they appeared to be due to their light weight, I picked out three meaty stems - which came to $24.50! A bit shocked, I handed over the cash, thinking "these had better be good goddamn mushrooms"

Well, value aside - they were, indeed, good damn mushrooms. Meaty, with a bit of a crunch, rich in umami - I'd need a special occasion to whip these out again, but they were very nice - even Sparky, who occasionally objects to mushrooms, was snarfing them down.

When you've got an expensive ingredient, you want it to be the star - so I diced them, tossed them in 'ol Bessie (the cast iron skillet) with a sizeable glob of butter, a slosh of EVOO, a couple cloves of minced garlic and some thyme sprigs from the back 40. When they'd cooked down, I added some sea salt, and thinking I needed to stretch it a bit more, went out back and picked some tender Swiss Chard leaves, chiffonaded them and tossed them in. After the pasta I planned to dress with this excess was done, I added some of the pasta cooking liquid, and voila! Porcini and Chard sauce! Topped with some Parmegiano Reggiano that Marketplace on Oakton happened to have this weekend, and it was a beautiful, beautiful thing.

Ah, and where is it that you live?

I would be scared the mushrooms were poisonous because I definitely don't know enough.