[pct-l] Porcini on the CT

[Scott Williams]

In most areas, the porcini season is only a few weeks long, just when the
fall weather is right.  That's why porcini buttons, which are one of the
finest mushrooms in the world, sell for $80 to $100 a lb.  Trails above the
tree line will have none at all.  You've got to be in the drip line of the
ponderosas to have any chance of finding them.

Having so many of them on trail this year was a real treat.  Raw they taste
like a crispy mushroom infused with chestnut.  Oh my heart!  True risotto
con porcini, made with porcini buttons and a lacing of dried porcini, is
incredible.  After sauteing the fresh buttons they freeze very well and
keep their fresh flavor.  Drying them is also easy, but they taste very
different, wonderful, but not as subtle as fresh.

Shroomer