A very tasty mushroom and also a medicine. If you ever find it, do not omit it.
ingredienti per 4 porzioni (costo circa 6 € ap)
- 500 gr pom pom mushrooms
- 2 onions
- Sale
- Pepe rosa
- Olio di semi di girasole EV
- White wine vinegar
- Una foglia di alloro
- 50 g pine nuts
- 50 g di uvetta
Yesterday, my phone rung. He was my “drug dealer”, which means my mushroom supplier (I know it sounds strange but I don´t smoke, I don´t drink not even a drop of alcohol and I don´t take drugs).
“I have something very special, only for you, come as fast as you are”, he told me.
“Fuck”, Ι thought, believing that the “stuff” would be an expensive truffle. I also had to change the oil of my engine, it came almost black, but my addiction to mushrooms did not allowed me to reject his invitation.
Thank God, my seller just had found a precious, rare but not expensive mushroom so I could change my car´s oil. He also told me (I confirmed it later) that this mushroom is a medicine. It is used in the pharmaceutical industry as an ingredient for gastric and neurological remedies, it is a natural weapon for Alzheimer and Parkinson diseases!!!!
Hericium erinaceus, as this is its official name, is a F A N T A S T I C mushroom. I fell in love with it. If it was a woman I would get a divorce with my wife and I would disinherit my bitch!!!! (– Is it sure that you do not take drugs?)
So, I bought all the available quantity (35E per kilo) and I returned at home. I cut a piece I sautéed it and I taste it in order to decide how to cook it. The mushrooms didn´t have a special aroma but they had an extraordinary texture.
I decided to prepare them “in saor”, a Venetian way of cooking.
So, I cut the onions in slices and I put the sultanas in a bowl with lukewarm water to soak. I also toasted lightly the pine nuts.
I sliced roughly the mushrooms and I lightly fried them with just a little bit of EV sunflower oil. I salted the very last time.
In the same pot I added some more oil, the vinegar, the onions and some salt and I let them cooked for about 45 mins, till the onion become tender and “sweet and sour”. I discarded the bay leaf and I added the sultanas and the mushrooms. I let them “marinate” for about 1 hour.
I served the mushrooms adding some pine nuts and abundant coarse rose pepper.
