PORCINI MUSHROOMS
Italians are passionate about their mushrooms , especially PORCINI Mushrooms , These grow wild throughout Europe but it is acknowleged that the best and most tasty and aromatic PORCINI come from the VAL TARO area in the province of PARMA in northern Italy , The Valleys and mountains in this Appenine area reach a hight of upto 1750 metres about 5700 feet and are still covered in wild forest made up Alpine Pine ,Chestnut ,and Beech trees, these forests are full of wild life ,the biggest of which is wild Boar and Deer .The main town in this area is Borgo Val Di Taro ( or more commonally called BORGOTARO) which is 60 km up the A15 Autostrada from PARMA , Takes an hour driving normally or less if you try and follow the locals !!!
Borgotaro is known throughout Italy as the center of the PORCINO mushroom picking area ,and every September there is a week long mushroom festival ,which is well worth visiting.
Borgotaro translates in English to the Town in the valley of the Taro which is the mountain river around which Borgotaro is built. It is the main market town of the surrounding area being at the intersection of several of the adjoining Appennine valleys , The main villages around these valleys are TARSOGNO which is at 850meters Albareto, Bedonia , Varese Ligure, Alpe, Santa Maria, all of which form the centre of this PORCINO Mushroom collecting area.
There are several Co-operatives which process these wonderful Porcini the biggest being FRUTTIBOSCO in our family village of TARSOGNO and whose mushrooms FRATELLI CAMISA are exclusive importers and agents for the UK and other English speaking countries.
The main season for Porcini is from September onwards until the first snow falls ,but this is very much down to Mother Nature and the weather each year.
The ideal being a hot lead upto August to warm the ground and followed by several days of gentle rain which penetrates the ground and forms a high level of humidity in the woods . Storms with lots of heavy rain are not the ideal as the water tends just to run off rather than penetrate the ground,
Pickers are very secreative about the areas where they go to collect the mushrooms , and tend to leave well before dawn and make sure they are not followed . Quite understandable really when in a good year the price paid by the Local Co-operatives , hotels and restaurants can be as high as 35.Euros per Kilo for fresh Porcini depending on the season.
The Fresh Porcini are individually cleaned by hand , usually with a small knife , sliced and then dried in the sun , Good quailty Porcini are nice and light in colour ,a very pale cream ,with the darker heads being a brown chocolate colour with sometines a hint of green.
The slices should be thin and even.
BE WARE there are a lot of PORCINI sold in packets showing the ITALIAN FLAG giving the impression they are Italian ,THEY ARE NOT unless they say they are from Italy on the packet , the Flag and Italian name or Writing is only there to fool , YES FOOL the customer that they come from Italy ,when in fact they are mushrooms imported from China and the old Eastern Block countries , These mushrooms do not have the same flavour as the ones from VAL TARO and are usually cut very badly some almost in chunks , their colour is always darker , which in most cases means that they are very old from the previous years crop or even from the year before that.
There is one well known brand sold in one of the largest Supermakets which even if the packaging gives the impression of being Italian ,but i am positive are NOT , they are dark and thickly cut almost chucks ,and when you open them and feel them are almost like bits of wood ,and have next to no aroma if you snif them . And something which i really donot understand is they say they are ORGANIC , Porcini come from wild forests ,and therefore by definition CANNOT BE ORGANIC as wild mushrooms grow naturally without the horticultural controls of cultivated crops. Please note that all our FRUTTIBOSCO mushrooms state this clearly on the packet ,We do supply one large Enlightened Supermaket chain "Sainsburys " with these Fruttibosco Porcini Mushrooms which you can find in their Special Selection Section in a 100gram Packet ,and if you have the time just pick up a packet and holding it to your nose squeese the packet ,you will get a wonderful smell from the Porcini almost as if you were tasting them .
The Eastern Block or Chinese Porcini hardly have any aroma and taste woody and are tough to eat. We know this because Fruttibosco are often asked to supply their off cuts for some of these packers to add to these mushrooms to add a bit much needed flavor to them !!!! Enough said .
PREPARING DRIED PORCINI for cooking;
Simply take the Dried ( hopefully FRUTTIBOSCO ones ) out of the packet and place in a large glass , then cover them with hot water, not boiling water , but just very hot water, and leave for about 25 minutes to stew. You will see that the water will turn a very dark brown colour ,and the mushrooms will be very soft and tender, at the base of the glass you might find a bit of grit ,but this is normal , although it should be only a very little amount .
This grit is sometimes present because as previously mentioned these mushrooms are simply cleaned with a small knife and are not washed before drying.
Having soaked your mushrooms lift them out of the water , but don't throw the water away . Use the mushrooms AND the water to add to whatever sauce you are preparing, it will give you a wonderful flavour . For example , if you are making a nice Risotto , add the water to the stock or the liquid you are cooking the rice in , The mushrooms themselves you can warm up in a seperate pan with the sauce you are preparing..
KEEPING PORCINI
To store your Porcini the best way is to take them out of the cellophane packet they usually come in and place in an old fashioned paper bag with a handful of black pepper corns , these will keep any weavels away. Store preferably in a cool dark DRY cubbard or in the fridge ,making sure not get them wet. This way they will last and last.
Again if you have any questions please do not hesitate to e mail me ,and i will get back to you as fast as i can. Unless i am out collecting Porcini that is.
Alberto Camisa
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