La Darbia blog

Mushroom time

Text by Claudia Femia

Sab, 18 ottobre 2014
Mushroom time
A few years ago a friend of mine bought a house on the island of Ibiza and he was so thrilled with his purchase that all he could talk about was the sunshine on Ibiza, the sea in Ibiza, the discotheques in Ibiza, the nightlife in Ibiza... He was so enthusiastic about the way of life that he decided..

A few years ago a friend of mine bought a house on the island of Ibiza and he was so thrilled with his purchase that all he could talk about was the sunshine on Ibiza, the sea in Ibiza, the discotheques in Ibiza, the nightlife in Ibiza...

He was so enthusiastic about the way of life that he decided he would move there to live and never missed an opportunity to try and persuade me to do the same as him until, finally, one day sick and tired of it all, I told him that I would never live in a place like Ibiza, simply because it didn't have the three things I could not live without: snow, truffles and mushrooms.

I decided to write these few lines because we are in early September and, though the time for both truffles and snow has yet to come, this is the right moment for mushrooms: from now on until the cold weather sets in, all over the chestnut, ash and birch woods encircling Lake Orta you will come across that precious wonder of nature which goes by the name Boletus edulis, the cep mushroom commonly known as PORCINO.

Have you ever gone out and looked for mushrooms? Or rather have you ever happened to wake up early and go for a stroll in the silence of the Autumn woods, on and on for hours, perhaps, until suddenly a kind of magic strikes and you realise you are surrounded by one, two or even ten porcini, lying there as if they had been waiting for days just for you?

Well, even if you have never had this experience, there is always a first time and I can guarantee you that we have always found an abundance of mushrooms around here, even in the wood just beyond the La Darbia gates.

Looking for mushrooms is not hard, even children can do it, as all you need is a pair of walking boots and, what is far more important, to know a couple of things like where and when to go about looking.

If you need some advice try asking Matteo; last autumn Lisa tried her hand at it and she came back from the woods with 5 Kg of beautiful porcini!