During the months of September and October enters its peak season of mushrooms, a product increasingly present in the recipes of Val d’Aran local dishes, the variety of these precious fungi found in the forests of the Valley. Not surprisingly the territory has become the flagship in this recovered hobby and organizes since 10 years ago Mycological workshops with outings, conferences, exhibitions and, of course, culinary tastings.
Experts mycologists show attendees how to collect mushrooms and clean them in the same forest to let the spores that allow their growth next year; how to place them carefully in the basket for perfect preservation; and how to clean them gently with a brush without water to maintain all its flavour.
Also, with the cooks of the best local restaurants, you can learn the different culinary techniques to preserve and develop them according to its variety, from simple blanching to escabeche, confit, dried, frozen and even jam. “The mushroom is a seasonal product and only when we have it fresh we serve it as a main dish grilled or in carpaccio, for example” says Marc Nus, chef of Era Coquela and one of the promoters of the workshops, “conservation techniques allow us to cook with them throughout the year or use them as aromatic spice“.
More than 200 species have been cataloged in the forests of the Val d’Aran, some of them especially tasty as the known rovellons, camagrocs, fredolics, ceps, rossinyols or even the trompetes de la mort. They are included in typical Aranese dishes as the Civet de senglar, the Olha de pagès or the already famous Rostit de bou amb bolets of Casa Perú de Bagergue..
Pit de pintada rostida amb xalotes, mini pastanagues i bolets de Er Occitan.
But also the modern Aranese kitchen discovers new possibilities of the mushrooms, accompanying products as sturgeon and caviar, extremely attractive on a bed of camagrocs or a mixture of mushrooms. “Among the star dishes of Era Coquela we have the Parmentier de patata amb trompeta de la mort i orella de garrí comfitada and the Ou a baixa temperatura amb ceps, foie i escuma de patata” said Marc Nus.
In this line there are the Llom de cèrvol amb bolets from Urtau, the Manetes de porc farcides de nous i bolets from Era Lucana or the Pit de pintada rostida amb xalotes, mini pastanagues i bolets from Er Occitan. Alson, the Valley chefs find their applications in the creams, soups and riz dishes as the Rissoto de ceps amb carpaccio de cèrvol from Era Coquela and Arròs amb bolets i llebre from Era Lucana.
Mushrooms Pintxo Pote from Urtau
The Pintxo Pote associations of the Val d’Aran have signed up to the initiative, and there are already many tapas incorporating mushrooms as the main product, support or flavouring. During this week you can taste them in Vielha on Tuesday, on Thursday in Bossòst and on Friday in Les.