Dried Ceps (Porcini) Mushrooms 100g Bag

Product Information

Porcini mushrooms have such a beautiful earthy, somewhat nutty flavor reminiscent of forest ground, colorful leaves and damp autumn air. Every season we stroll around the woods looking for these beauties. My dad has a radar for them, I swear it’s almost as if he can smell them miles away. He is a natural talent for detecting porcini mushrooms (smile) and even has a special secret place (well, not so secret any more) up in the woods among pine trees, where a different type of porcini grow, with distinct flavor and darker color. Mushrooms are harder to identify than plants: there is less to go. And making a similar mistake of the sort that I made with fruit on those occasions with the wrong deadly mushroom, could lead to at least significant morbidity. You can play with the flavours here – using dried seaweed (nori or dulse) instead of ceps and trout or salmon roe instead of truffle makes an equally delicious combination.

Porcinci are wild mushrooms native to the Alpine regions of Italy and France (where they are known as ceps). They have a distinctive aroma and rich flavour. Fresh porcini are only available in late summer and autumn so the dried variety is more commonly used. Only a small amount of dried porcini, around 25-50g, is needed to add an intense flavour to a variety of savoury dishes. Waitrose sell dried porcini mushrooms in the Waitrose Cooks' Ingredients range. Cultivated or mixed wild fresh mushrooms can be used instead of porcini. To prepare: Pour 175ml boiling water onto 25g porcini mushrooms and soak for about 15 minutes. Drain the mushrooms, reserving the soaking water, and chop or leave whole as desired. Portabella For more advanced gourmet mycophagists only…I’ve discovered that if you can catch your ceps at the very early stages of Hypomyces chrysospermus infection – characterised by the odd rusty spot, perhaps the very beginnings of mould/mushiness and a somewhat cheesy smell – this actually adds wonderful parmesan-like umami to the mushrooms once dried. Really good, but i’m only talking about the very early stages of infection here. To cook: Fry in butter over a high heat or grill, brushed with olive oil for 5-10 minutes, sprinkled with chopped fresh parsley and garlic. Chanterelle To prepare: Wipe the mushrooms clean with kitchen paper, trim the roots at the base and separate the stems before serving. Exotic medleyThese are large mushrooms with a meaty texture and a wonderful aroma, they can be up to 10cm in diameter. Available all year. To cook: Grill or fry sliced gigantes in a little butter for 5-10 minutes. To bake, top with butter and place in an ovenproof dish with 4 tbsp cold water, cook in a preheated oven at 190(C, gas mark 5 for 45 minutes or until tender. Oyster So called because of their fan-like shape. They grow naturally in woods, in clusters of overlapping tiers, but the cultivated varieties are grown on composted wheat straw. They have a subtle flavour and a chewy texture. Oyster mushrooms are commonly grey but yellow and pink ones are also available. However these lose their colour once cooked. Available all year.

Named after the enoki tree that it grows on, the wild variety has a tiny yellow-orange cap with a long, slender stem, the more common cultivated variety are a creamy colour. They have a sweet, fruity flavour with a slight crunch and are native to Japan where they are widely used. Available all year. To prepare: To rehydrate, soak in warm water for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then drain using a sieve, reserve the soaking liquor for use in recipes too. Dried mixed Known as cèpes in France and porcini in Italy, these creamy yellow mushrooms have a good flavour and a velvet-like texture. They are quite meaty and have a spongy underside, rather than gills. Available all year. Heat a large frying pan with a glug of oil over a medium flame, and, when hot, add the sliced red onion and potatoes, and cook for a couple of minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic, spices and greens, and fry for a further three minutes, stirring occasionally.Add all but the last spoonful (which may be gritty) of the mushroom liquid to the onion mixture and reduce until it’s almost gone. Combine the onion with the mushrooms, and season. Finding a large porcini is an amazing feeling. A friend found one this year that was over two feet tall! Unfortunately, there is one big issue with larger porcini mushrooms, and that is fly larvae. Tiny ones that riddle your mushroom with holes. Slice the mushroom, and you might not see them at first, but if you see holes, you will definitely have tiny worms inside. Don’t throw the mushroom out, though! If the damage is small, you can cut out those sections or even salvage areas that do have worms. You can do two things to rid your porcini of worms and make it clean for eating and drying. Wild mushrooms with a nutty flavour, these are especially popular in Italy where they are known as porcini. To prepare: There is no need to wash, just wipe with a kitchen towel. Remove the tough stems and slice or leave the mushroom cap whole. Heat the olive oil in a large heavy-based pan. Slowly fry the bacon lardons over a low heat until golden brown but not too crispy. Add the onion, celery, carrots, garlic and fennelseeds. Add a good pinch of salt. Slowly fry this soffrito in the oil for at least 30 minutes, stirring from time to time, until sweet and very soft.

Uses: Serve with scrambled eggs for a tasty breakfast, add to creamy pasta sauces or simply serve on toast. To cook: Fry in butter over a high heat or grill, brushed with olive oil for 5-10 minutes, sprinkled with chopped fresh parsley and garlic. Gigante Scatter over a gesture of cheese and bake the tart for 30-35 minutes, until it has a mottled golden top and is slightly raised. Allow to rest for at least 20 minutes before serving. To prepare: Scrape the spongy underside away before cooking (it goes soggy) and wipe clean with kitchen paper.Uses: Sauté whole flat mushrooms in a little butter and garlic or remove the stalk and stuff and bake.

These large mushrooms are matured for longer to achieve a deliciously meaty flavour. They are grown on Dutch farms using a straw-based compost and are exclusive to Waitrose. Available all year. Place the dried ceps in a jug and fill with 1 litre of boiling water, then add the saffron. Stand for 10 minutes. To cook: Sauté in a little butter to release the juices, then turn the heat up to concentrate the flavour. Chestnut Edibility – 5/5– firm young ceps are one of the tastiest wild foods, and extremely versatile. Older specimens are best dried, after which their flavour intensifies.

How to make a perfect French purée with a twist

Make a cep powder by popping a handful or 2 of dried ceps into a blender – a Nutribullet would be ideal for the job – and blitz until you have a fine powder. To prepare: Cultivated mushrooms are usually very clean: just wipe with a kitchen towel or rinse briefly and dry before use. Do not peel. Leave the mushrooms whole or slice as necessary. Heat the oven to 180C (160 fan)/350F/gas 4. Transfer the lentils to a deep 20cm casserole dish and top with the celeriac-potato mix. Bake for 20 minutes, then finish under the grill to get a nice golden top. These creamy-yellow mushrooms are a distinctive frilly trumpet shape with a slightly rubbery texture. They have a firm flesh with a subtle, fruity flavour. Available all year.