Fresh or Dried King Bolete
Production area: All the inland of Liguria.
Curiosities: Mushroom picking and processing date back to the Middle Ages: mushrooms were very appreciated already at that time, to the extent that they are among the gifts that Del Carretto required at Christmas. The fairs organized in the valleys depended on the money availability of the farmers, who used to show up at the end of the summer harvest or at the end of the chestnut and mushroom harvests. This demonstrates that, since the 19th century, mushrooms have been an essential feature of the agricultural economy of inland towns like Sassello, Varese Ligure, and Santo Stefano d'Aveto. In his Dictionary, Goffredo Casalis talks about a considerable export activity of mushrooms towards the coastal towns and Genoa.
Product features: The King Bolete (Boletus edulis) spontaneously grows in the forests of the whole regional mountain area, with different organoleptic features from valley to valley.
Mushroom picking takes place in chestnut, Turkey oak, beech tree, hornbeam, and ash tree forests.
King Boletes growing in beech tree forests are white and tapered, while those growing in chestnut tree forests are darker, with a red stipe. The picking and transformation activities of several varieties of King Boletes are witnessed by several sources, among which some documents preserved in a monastery of Varese Ligure. Mushrooms have been recognized by the law as a "local resource".
Preparation: Cut the mushrooms into slices, arrange them on the drying gratings for 12-16 hours, or on frame nets under the sun, turning them often. Naturally or mechanically dried mushrooms do not have a humidity percentage higher than 12%. Mushrooms dried naturally tend to wrinkle and become darker. Dried mushrooms must be preserved in a cool place for no longer than 12 months from their packaging. In the 19th century, the Augustinian nuns of Varese Ligure used to prepare dried mushrooms and sell them in small baskets covered with thin paper characterized by cut decorations resembling precious doilies.
