Autumn Mushroom Hunt

Zagrebians love hiking all over their beloved Medvednica Mountain, as well as some other nearby ranges around the towns of Samobor and Jastrebarsko. Early autumn is the perfect time to combine a pleasant stroll through the woods with another useful activity like foraging, adding an extra value to your day out in the nature. Picking mushrooms and chestnuts is what everyone is doing right now so don’t be surprised if you see groups of people carrying baskets and wandering off from the trail like zombies. Of course, if you want to go mushroom picking and you’re not suicidal, an experienced mushroom expert is the person you need to guide you. But don’t worry, if you’re not surrounded with mushroom connoisseurs or happen to be one yourself, you can find plenty of the “forest meat” on Zagreb’s green markets. The king of the forest and one of the most popular and prized mushrooms is the noble Boletus edulis, porcino or vrganj, as it’s called here. Other common edible wild species you’ll find in hills around Zagreb include chanterelles, black morel, parasol mushroom, horn of plenty...

“Fresh chanterelles. What to do with them now?” Image credit: Taste of Croatia

But let’s stick to the delicious and fragrant “king bolete”, as you’ll most often encounter it on the menu during the wild mushroom season. And then it will probably be an omelette, creamy soup, risotto or some kind of simple pasta dish. Mushroom geeks swear that boletes are best when you don’t mess with them too much, only season them with some salt, pepper, lemon juice and olive oil. That’s certainly the best way to taste their aroma at maximum, but you need the freshest and youngest mushrooms you can get. Browsing through traditional recipes, the rich and filling Zagorje soup (zagorska juha) is just not the same if you replace the boletes with some ordinary supermarket mushrooms. Wild mushroom strudel is another simple but delicious dish you won’t find very often, unless you decide to roll up your sleeves and do it yourself. And for special occasions, gourmands will opt for beefsteak in bolete and wine sauce. When it comes to sauces and soups, the main rule which makes the difference between ignorant newbies and seasoned mushroom appreciators is not to drown them in cooking cream and kill their seductive aromas. Mushrooms are definitely very versatile little things, and it seems dessert is the only part of the meal where they can’t be used. Although I’m sure there’s a creative chef out there working on that problem as we speak.

“Meat and boletus mushrooms feast in Karlo restaurant, Plešivica.” Image credit: Taste of Croatia

However, the boletus season is quite short and unpredictable, so people are finding ways to preserve them longer. Drying is the most obvious solution, it’s easy and it works well. Beside the glorious young boletus mushrooms, all you need is an oven and patience. The other option is marinating them and storing them in a jar for the long winter ahead. For mushroom junkies, there’s even something called boletus powder and it comes very handy in the kitchen. It gives wonderful aroma to all kinds of soups, goulashes, pasta sauces, meat dishes. Great chefs always have a whole array of different wild mushroom powders to enhance their dishes.

“A jar of dried boletes.” Image credit: eNOgAStrObRUtaL

If you belong to the great family of mushrooms eaters and lovers, think twice before you curse these boring, endless heavy rains. Look on the bright side. There’s sunshine after rain, but more importantly - there’s plenty of mushrooms after the rain.

“Boletus mushroom in its kingdom, the forest on Medvednica Mountain.” Image credit: eNOgAStrObRUtaL

Header image credit: eNOgAStrObRUtaL

Author: Taste of Croatia