Mr. Thomas, I will not join you in raging against the dying of the light. It is fully autumn, with brisk mornings and great bushels of maple leaves making the sidewalks as slick as skating rinks. Sidewalk vendors are dispensing roasted chestnuts in paper cones alongside sweet potatoes cooked over a fire until their sweet sap dapples their russet skins.
All the fall produce has been in the markets for weeks now. At my favorite local fruteria, Carme Miranda (pun intended, presumably), there are no fewer than five kinds of fresh wild mushrooms, including ceps (boletus, called porcini in Italy). And chanterelles, oysters, and a couple I've never seen before: one is reddish with medium-sized caps and a green tinge to its gills and is called rovello (accent on the last syllable), and the other is tiny with dark caps and long, string-like yellowish stems. Sauteed in a mixture with a splash of excellent Spanish sherry from Jerez, they are redolent of earth and forest. Alongside the mushrooms are tiny wild leeks that are the subjects of a festival in Catalunya in which it is practically worshiped. Oh and of course the radicchio is out, and there are tons of figs - persimmons had a short but glorious season the past couple weeks - and pomegranates, and there are jars of skinned hazelnuts and dried wild mushrooms in the fruteria.
See these links for more articles about wild mushrooms in Spain:
http://travel.latimes.com/articles/la-tr-mushroom21oct21
http://mallorcaphotoblog.wordpress.com/2007/10/10/wild-mushrooms-season/
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment