SPAIN: Mushroom hunting in the Sierra del Gredo

by Bruce

It’s Monday night (or early Tuesday morning). The rain stopped some hours ago. Our host, Miguel, is up late editing video and sending me funny YouTube links as I write this blog. Harry and I couldn’t have asked for a smoother transition back into travel life.

If you recall, we hobos last left off in Madrid during my 24-hr birthday binge before flying back home to San Francisco. Two months later, we’re back in Madrid, but our gastronomic adventure begins in the foothills of the Sierra de Gredos (the Gredos Mountain Range), 2 hours due west of Madrid. Miguel will argue it’s only a 1 hour and 45 minute drive, but I would say that’s a Spanish estimation. I think he drove deliberately slow so we could take in the scenery — pine-covered hills and winding road –not too dissimilar from drives I’ve taken in Northern California.  However, the colors of fall were more pronounced here and the rays of the setting sun only made it more apparent.

We stay the night in the country cottage that belongs to Miguel’s family. The cottage is exactly what you’d expect from an old Spanish country dwelling: a house made out of stone, a heavy wooden door, a wood-burning fireplace, and an underground cave to store wine.  It’s quaint, modestly appointed, but very, very cozy.

We awake the next day to clear skies and crisp air. We take a quick tour of the veggie garden where edibles include cauliflower, broccoli,  heirloom tomatoes, kale, watermelon, and various types of peppers.  Of course, there’s a small vineyard and olive trees as well.

Miguel tells us we’ll visit his mother for lunch but, first, we’ll have to gather wild truffles.  Awesome!  A short drive along a steep narrow road and a hop over a crumbled stone wall, we arrive in the woods — a serene blaze of autumn. Leaves glow orange, red, and yellow.

Led by Miguel’s father, we scour the forest floor for the edible fungi. We come across a few withered stems, but nothing worthy of our appetites. So, after 45 minutes, we relocate to another field just down the road. Bingo! They weren’t the truffles we were looking for, but Miguel was equally excited. The Spanish mushroom guidebook classifies them as Agaricus Campestris, but Miguel refers to them simply as “champis.” And, according to the mushroom handbook, they are “excelente comestible.”

We arrive in town afterward with nearly two kilos of champis. We meet Miguel’s mom in the kitchen of their family’s bed and breakfast, La Posada del Esquiladores. Did I mention that Miguel’s mom is head chef and participates in the annual mushroom festival where select restaurants around the valley submit entire menus based upon various species of mushroom?  Here, in the Sierra de Gredos, the “ boletus,” or porcini mushroom, is the prized fungi.  Unfortunately, so late in the season, it is rare that we would find any.  Even Mariano, the noted town truffle hunter, admits that mushroom numbers have been low due to lack of rainfall that normally occur in late September.

Here’s a delectably simple treat that we really enjoyed:

*1 cup white or field mushrooms

*olive oil

*sea salt

*soft boiled egg

*parsley

Directions: Soft boil the egg, then strip the white and keep the yolk. Slice the mushrooms in even strips along their length and fry them in olive oil until slightly brown. Remove from pan and sprinkle with sea salt. Garnish with some chopped parsley. Lay the yolk in the center of the plate and break it open when ready to eat. Enjoy!