Wild Mushrooms

My sister in law was excited; she’d raced to her secret place in the woods, basket in hand hoping to find her favourite mushrooms.

She was lucky. Even though it was late in the season, the sudden rain, warm sunshine and wonderful nature had produced prestigious wild mushrooms – les girolles.

I was impressed with her pick especially as I’d seen girolles in the markets selling at 29 euros a kilogram.

And she, (clever lady) didn’t have to get them checked at the pharmacy as is the custom here; she knew these trumpet shaped mushrooms with their wrinkly  frilly hats well.

I raced round to help her clean the tender perfumed specimens. We carefully trimmed the ends, wiped them with a wet cloth brushing away any excess dirt. Only those that were really dirty got a squirt of tap water.

“Never ever wash mushrooms. It would make them soggy and they will loose all taste,” she warned.

She stored most of them in a perforated plastic bag for cooking later that week -- these mushrooms are best eaten fresh.

The rest we cooked; these beautiful girolles were too tempting to resist.

First we got rid of the water content by heating gently, and then we cooked them in some margarine in a frying pan for about 5 minutes stirring regularly and gently. We added shallots, chopped parsley, salt and pepper and a dollop of double cream.

They were perfect.

Why are they good for us?

These mushrooms are indeed healthy and nutritious.

They are low in calories – about 15 calories per 100 grams   with good amounts of iron, potassium, copper, selenium, vitamin B12, and vitamin D.



Freshly picked girolles