Rose's October Shop Watch - Wild Porcini Mushroom Powder

Wild Porcini Mushroom Powder

Sous Chef

What?
Porcini Powder

Why?
A mushroom boost

The most prized mushrooms of all are Italian porcini mushrooms. They start to appear on market stalls after the first rain has broken the long hot summer. Menus in the trattorie feature porcini risotto and fresh tagliatelle with porcini. And, since they are so meaty, main courses include the large saucer-like heads simply grilled (teste di porcini alla griglia), or breaded and fried (impanati), or sliced porcini sauteed with garlic and parsley. Their earthy taste heralding the start of autumn to ease the passage to winter.

Now, sadly whilst we are not able to benefit from such joys (unless you find some growing wild), we can take consolation in being able to buy very good quality dried ones here, which I have written about before. But I have found another really intriguing product to inject a little mushroominess into your cooking at this time of year. And that is wild porcini mushroom powder. As you open the cellophane top you can inhale the mushroom flavour. And you can add a small amount for a subtle effect or more for a real mushroom flavour boost.

One of the ways I use it most is in a gravy, with roast beef or even better with sausage and mash. Just a teaspoon or two will enhance the gravy without you really knowing why. It gives it a nearly undetectable extra magic. After adding it, let the gravy simmer for a few minutes to incorporate the flavour.

Then you can make things more mushroomy. Still staying with giving a subtle boost I like to add it to one of my favourite winter lunch dishes: creamed mushrooms on toast. Or try adding it to a creamy mushroom sauce for pasta, or to a risotto, or to the filling of a mushroom quiche, or to cream of mushroom soup, or to a stroganoff, or the filling for a chicken and mushroom pie.

And the time to turn up the full flavour boost is in stews and casseroles which include mushrooms as an ingredient already – a boeuf bourgignon, or a daube, or a coq au vin. Always add the powder early on so it can cook in. Finally, you can even use the powder as a marinade for meat – just rub it into the surface of the raw meat.

So, add a little mushroom magic to your cooking this autumn.

Conclusion:
Magic mushrooms

Product Details:
Wild Porcini Mushroom Powder
60g
£8.99
sous-chef.co.uk

Price and availability as at 30th September 2023

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