Setas in Madrid

[vserna]

The 'good' news is that three weeks ago the saffron-capped milky agarics (that's the English name of Lactarius deliciosus, Pedro), in El Corte Inglés, cost... exactly 60 euros/kilo! At least, they haven't gone up in price! Late fungal varieties in the drier parts of Spain, such as the níscalo, have been decimated this year due to the overwhelming September-October drought.

That said, the chanterelles from the wet North have been much cheaper and excellent!

Edited December 6, 2004 by vserna (log)

[butterfly]

Just a few days ago, we purchased níscalos at Mercado de la Cebada for 25 Euros a kilo... and I've always thought that our market seems a bit pricier than most of the others around. They looked a bit mossy on the outside, but they were absolutely delicious, beautifully orange and free from grit.

[vserna]

They looked a bit mossy on the outside

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Not to worry, Butterfly. Many members of the Lactarius (meaning: milky) family, particularly but not only the deliciosus, have this property that the slightest erosion of their (in tyhis case) bright but brittle orange surface (not even a cut - a simple bruise) immediately turns a threatening dark green. It's just a chemical reaction with not the slightest danger to the consumer or the slightest change in taste or properties.

And $25 was a great price! (El Corte Inglés is always outrageously expensive anyhow.) That said, in the wet autumn of 2002 we were paying 4 euros a kilo...

[butterfly]

Just a quick níscalo update... I saw them for 20 Euros a kilo at Mercado de la Cebada today. This vendor is on the bottom floor in the middle (maybe two rows back from the elevator in the middle). He was also selling "yesterday's níscalos" for 14 Euros a kilo--they were slightly knocked around, but still looked good to me, so I bought a 1/2 kilo.

Mercado de la Cebada is right next to the La Latina metro stop.

There's also a very good (but pricey) fish vendor on the top floor--from the main entrance, you go up the left stairs and down the second row to the extreme left side of the market. One of these days I'll do a better write up on this market, because there is a lot of good stuff if you know where to look and how to ask...

Edited December 10, 2004 by butterfly (log)

[vserna]

A classic may of cooking milky agarics on the Spanish high plateau is níscalos con patatas. One of many recipes goes like this:

500 grams soft potatoes (apt for stewing), 500 grams níscalos, one 'pimiento choricero' (dried soft red pepper), half a small onion, a teaspoon of minced 'guindilla' (dried hot red chile), olive oil and salt.

Soak and scald the 'choriceros' in order to extract their re-hydrated pulp. Mince onion finely. Clean níscalos carefully (not under a jet of water!), cut into thin but large slices. Dice the potatoes, not too finely. Heat some olive oil in a casserole, add onion and let it just become slightly golden. Add the mushrooms, which will immediately shed their water. Cook for a few minutes, then add potatoes and cook a couple more minuted. Add 'guindilla' and cover with water, adding the pulp from the 'choriceros and salt. Cook over very slow heat until the potatoes are tender. Correct salt. Serve in soup bowls and eat with a spoon.

Edited December 10, 2004 by vserna (log)

[butterfly]

I've been waiting apprehensively through this long, dry year and am happy to report that níscalos are back!

It has obviously not been a great mushroom season, but they had them at my market today for 24 Euros a kilo.

When I talked to the mushroom guy at Mercado San Miguel last week, he said he would be getting them this week as well. He also had chanterelles, black trumpet mushrooms, angulas de monte, boletus, and four or five other varieties.

I'm very much looking forward to reproducing vserna's recipe (directly above) again this year--a perfect antidote to this brisk weather that we are having...

[vserna]

22-25 euros is highway robbery for milky agarics, proof of the great scarcity (very few of them do grow in November when there is no rain in August and September). (In 2002, our last wetautumn, they were around 8 euros...). At the same price, chanterelles are a much more refined mushroom. OTOH, lots of Lepista nuda, the wonderful blue-footed wood blewit, at similar prices to níscalos in Madrid markets this year; the Sierra de Guadarrama is chock-full of them this year, curiously. Back in my Sierra foray days I created my "New York City mushroom stew", with copious minced onion, sautéed in extra virgin olive oil, to which diced milky agarics and wood blewits were added (50-50). The name, of course, came from the nice color combination: orange and blue!

[butterfly]

Agreed that it's pricey. Last year, I found them for around 12 euros once the season really kicked in... I usually love chanterelles, but this year, I have found them to be bitter. I don't know if it has something to do with the dry season or if my taste buds need readjusting. But there really is something very meaty and satisfying about those níscalos (and perhaps there's an exotic element, since I grew up picking and consuming bushels and bushels of chanterelles as a child).

What is the Spanish name for lepista nuda?

[Rogelio]

What is the Spanish name for lepista nuda?

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Pie azul (blue feet)

[Judith Gebhart]

What is the Spanish name for lepista nuda?

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Pie azul (blue feet)

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Rogelio: Your response is most illuminating. FOr the American forager, the Lepista nuda is a violet tinted mushroom. The cap is that color. It is unnmistakenly identified in the field with those aforementioned colors. Pie azul is close but not exact enough; in fact why are the "feet" blue? Please explain. Judith Gebhart

[vserna]

Let's see. There are two blewits - the wood blewit or Lepista nuda and the plain blewit or Lepista personata. The Lepista nuda is blue/violet (colors can vary depending on the habitat) from top to bottom, or cap to stem (stem is 'pie' in Spanish, 'pied' in French, when referring to a toadstool). The Lepista personata is cream/beige-colored on the cap, but has a more markedly violet stem than the nuda. That is why the personata is called 'pie violeta'/'pied violet', and the nuda is called 'pie azul'/'pied bleu'.

Edited December 6, 2005 by vserna (log)

[Almendro]

El Cisne Azul not only does wonderful things to a plate of sauteed boletus, but will even sell fresh mushrooms direct--at least to favored customers. You can read about it here (scroll down a bit).

[vserna]

If you want a neighborhood bar that really serves top-notch mushrooms in Madrid, then go to El Imperio in Argüelles - the real thing.

[Judith Gebhart]

What is the Spanish name for lepista nuda?

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Pie azul (blue feet)

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Rogelio: Your response is most illuminating. FOr the American forager, the Lepista nuda is a violet tinted mushroom. The cap is that color. It is unnmistakenly identified in the field with those aforementioned colors. Pie azul is close but not exact enough; in fact why are the "feet" blue? Please explain. Judith Gebhart

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I have never experienced the L. personata in the field in the USA. IT may exist but not in my 40 years of foraging. L. nuda is not an elegant mushroom favorite. I presume that L. personata is mild flavored as well. THank you Victor for your input. I am grateful. Judith Gebhart

[vserna]

I would not qualify Lepista nuda as 'mild'. It is intensely aromatic, almost perfumed - so much so that most European mycophiles prefer it mixed with more neutral mushrooms (hence my mix with Lactarius deliciosus). L. personata is indeed milder, with a more tenuous aroma. L. nuda is not a *** mushroom, from a gastronomic viewpoint - i.e., it isn't in the same class as Boletus edulis, B. aereus, Morchella esculenta, Cantharellus cibarius, Amanita caesarea, Tuber melanosporum or our own Pleurotus eryngii. But I think most experts in Spain or France place it in the ** category, right behind - with such nice varieties as Marasmius oreades, Craterellus cornucopioides, Tricholoma flavovirens, T. terreum, T. portentosum, Macrolepiota procera, Russula virescens, R. cyanoxantha...

Edited December 8, 2005 by vserna (log)

[Judith Gebhart]

Dear Victor: You are a celebrated mycologist and an informed wine expert. I bow to your expertise!! Thank you for your informed posts. Gratefully, Judith Gebhart

[dfunghi]

WOW! Victor. You have quite the command on Latin and I second Judith's praise to your Mycological prowess.