Mushrooms

“Porcini” have been a culinary favourite in my family for as long as I can remember. The smell of sautéed porcini to me will always be my great-auntie Carla’s house in the hills of the province of Parma. My mother’s side of the family have been unapologetically obsessed with porcini for generations: foraging, photographing, cooking and…talking about them. Other than appreciating a dish of tagliatelle, and the occasional family forage, my own passion for mushroom picking is relatively recent (although rumour has it that I found my first porcino aged 18 months). The abundance of edible mushrooms that Scotland has been blessed with has made me rediscover an autumn pastime that is part of my blood and my culture. Italians (or descendants of Italians) are – perhaps unsurprisingly – overrepresented in the mushroom foraging community in Scotland. It is something that goes beyond a hobby: the adrenaline of the hunt, the connection with nature and the changing seasons, the silence, the autumn light, and that smell of sautéed porcini that stays the same despite the thousand-mile distance.