Recipes:
Chanterelle and Arugula Salad with Parmigiano and Cognac
Bruschetta with Mushrooms and Mascarpone
Mushrooms and Fennel Braised with Sweet Wine
Chanterelles Braised with String Beans and Tomatoes
Tagliatelle with Chanterelles, Dry Vermouth, and Prosciutto
Spaghetti with Roasted Pepper and Basil Purée
Several years ago, when I was in southeastern Sicily in a town called Gangi, I saw several locals traipsing through the woods hunting for mushrooms. I assumed they were gathering porcinis, and since I sadly happen to be highly allergic to porcinis, their activity struck me more as a threat than as a pleasure. But when I asked I learned that they were foraging for the pastel-orange chanterelles that Italians call finferli. They grow wild in that area. They looked very much like the fancy grocery-store chanterelles I was used to cooking, so I bravely ate some for dinner that night at a local restaurant. They were absolutely delicious simply sautéed with garlic and parsley, and I felt fine afterward. A few years later during the early fall I was in upstate New York, near Phoenicia, at an inn my husband and I have been going to for years, and the French owner told us that she’d been hunting for chanterelles in the woods all morning and had found so many she had put them on the evening menu. I was very surprised to learn that these special mushrooms grow wild only a few hours from Manhattan. After several very bad adventures in porcine eating, I’m always a little hesitant to try any wild mushroom, especially those collected by an amateur mycologist, but my memory of the wild chanterelles in Sicily gave me courage and desire. The upstate chanterelles looked identical to the ones I had tried in Sicily, but the kitchen prepared them French style, seeped in cream and cognac and finished with a flurry of tarragon; they tasted almost fruity.I went mushroom hunting for the first time this September in Duchess County, New York, near Rhinebeck, with a friend who had recently become interested in this pursuit. He showed me the cinnabar chanterelles that grew in clusters near logs in his woodsy backyard. They were about a quarter of the size of the more familiar peachy-beige chanterelles and their color was a brilliant pinky orange. They did however share the trademark chanterelle trumpet shape, and they smelled and tasted and looked very much like the larger ones. Also, they kept their bright color after cooking, though I did find their texture just a touch slippery. (more…)
Erica De Mane 