It was the perfect time of year for porcini mushrooms. A 70-year old friend and an experienced forager showed us around Hässeholmsgården, the forest near our house. In preparation, I also spoke to my father, an avid forager, and got instructions on how to tell poisonous from safe mushrooms, how to best pick them, and which recipes to try out.
But my first outing to the woods was disastrous. I came back home with a single porcini in my hand. The reason was that it is really necessary to train your eye to see the porcini on the ground as they are the true masters of disguise. Their cap is of brownish to gray color, which tends to blend perfectly with the color of fallen leaves. I even found some that literally looked as if they had purposefully used the leaves for cover and shade.
Very clever.
Over time, I got much better though. Soon, we were coming home with bags full of mushrooms after only a couple hours in the woods. I made porcini omelettes for breakfast, porcini risottos for lunch, and puff pastries with porcini mushrooms and Jerusalem artichokes for dinner.
G. always went with us as well, but even though she learned a lot about telling which mushrooms are poisonous or inedible, she rarely helped with foraging. Her fascination lay with baby frogs, which she would catch, play with, name, use to scare our aunt, plead to bring home, etc.
To doba godine je idealno za branje mladih vrganja. Poznanica koja sa svojih 70 godina i dalje vrlo aktivno skuplja jestive plodove sume, nas je uputila gdje i kada da trazimo vrganje u sumi pored naseg grada. Prije prvog branja razgovarala sam i sa ocem, strastvenim ljubiteljem i dobrim poznavaocem gljiva, te dobila savjete o raspoznavanju otrovnih od jestivih gljiva, njihovom branju i, kako on kaze, lovackim receptima.
Medjutim, moje prvo branje zavrsilo je neslavno. Dosla sam kuci sa samo jednim vrganjem u ruci. Potragu nam je otezalo vec opalo mokro lisce koje su vrganji vrlo spretno ''koristili''. Kapica vrganja je sivkasto-smedje boje i izvrsno se stapa sa jesenjim pokrovom lisca, tako da je za njihovo primjecivanje potrebno izuzetno iskusno i trenirano oko. Kasnije sam nalazila i neke koje kao da su namjenski koristile lisce kao zaklon.
Veoma mudro.
Nakon nekog vremena (i dosta naprezanja ociju), popravila sam se. Uskoro smo se vracali kuci da korpama prepunim vrganja, i to nakon samo par sati setanja sumom. Iz dana u dan pravila sam omlete sa vrganjima za dorucak, rizoto za rucak, i lisnato tijesto sa sa vrganjima i cicokama za veceru.
G. je uvijek isla s nama, i iako je naucila mnogo o razlikama izmedju otrovnih, neotrovnih i nejestivih gljiva, nije nam znacajno pomagala u samoj potrazi za gljivama. Fascinirale su je male zabe kojih je suma bila prepuna. Ona bi ih hvatala, igrala se s njima, davala im imena, njima plasila nasu tetku, molila da jednu ponese kuci, i tako ukrug.
I am sharing the risotto recipe with you since it was my family's favorite for this autumn. It is based in part on Mario Batali's risotto recipe. Since most of our foraging trips were in late afternoon, the light was not very good for on-the-spot mushroom photography, but you can find one here on my Instagram page. I am thrilled and thankful that our early autumn was blessed with the porcini feast. Another one of nature's gifts to cherish.
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S vama cu podijeliti recept za rizoto - omiljeno jelo s vrganjima u mojoj porodici. Djelimicno je baziran na rizoto receptu americkog kuhara italijanskog porijekla (Mario Batali). Zaista sam sretna i zahvalna sto smo ove rane jeseni uzivali u gozbi od vrganja. Jos jedan nesebicni dar prirode.
Ingredients
2 cloves garlic, diced
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 cups Arborio rice
500 g porcini, cleaned and cut lengthwise
3 1/2 cups chicken or vegetable stock, hot (I use plain hot water combined with 1/8 tsp of mixed herbal spices)
2 tbsp butter
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Regiano, plus more for shavings
salt, black pepper
Method
Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat, and fry the garlic bits for 30 seconds (do not let them burn). Add sliced porcini, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoons black pepper. Fry until the liquid that porcini releases has all but evaporated. Remove from heat. Transfer porcini in a cool bowl to prevent further frying in a hot skillet. Heat 1/4 cup olive oil in the same skillet. Add onion and cook until translucent. Add two cups of rice and stir until opaque and translucent.
Add 1 cup of hot chicken or vegetable stock and salt, and cook until almost all water is absorbed. When the final 1/2 cup of stock has been added, stir in the fried porcini. Add butter, and stir until melted. Finally, ad parmigiano cheese and stir. Rice should be creamy but firm. Warm up serving plates in the oven. Serve risotto alongside fresh parmigiano shavings and herbs.
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Risotto al PorciniSastojci
2 cesnja bijelog luka
1/4 mjerice + 2 kasike maslinovog ulja
1 luk srednje velicine
2 mjerice Arborio rize
500 g vrganja, ociscenih i narezanih po duzini
3 1/2 mjerice pileceg ili povrtnog temeljca
2 kasike maslaca
1/2 mjerice narendanog svjezeg parmezana
sol, crni biber
Priprema
Zagrijte ulje u dubokoj tavi i proprzite nasitnjeni bijeli luk. Dodajte vrganje, 1/4 kasicice soli i 1/8 kasicice crnog bibera. Przite dok tekucina koju vrganji puste u potpunosti ne ispari. Przene vrganje prebacite u zdjelu. Ugrijte 1/4 mjerice maslinovog ulja u tavi u kojoj ste przili vrganje. Dodajte luk i przite dok ne postane providan. Dodajte dvije mjerice Arborio rize i mijesajte drvenom kasikom dok riza ne postane sjajna i kristalasta.
Dodajte 1 mjericu vruceg temeljca i 1/2 kasicice soli, i kuhajte uz mijesanje dok se sva voda ne upije. Nastavite dodavati jednu po jednu mjericu temeljca, cekajuci uvijek da se voda upije prije dodavanja naredne mjerice. Nakon sto dodate zadnju 1/2 mjerice temeljca, umijesajte przene vrganje. Dodajte maslac i mijesajte. Na kraju dodajte i parmezan. Riza treba da bude kremasta ali cvrsta. U toploj pecnici zagrijte tanjire. Servirajte rizoto sa parmezanom i svjezim biljem.
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