THE FIRST PORCINI

These are the first porcini found on our land this year. The reason the glass is empty and the bottle is not opened is because it was not yet lunchtime when blipping took place. The olive oil has soaked in, too, because they are very porous. The little one on the right is as they come straight from the woods. It is accompanied by sprigs of nipitella, a wild herb of the mint family, necessary for most porcini recipes. The mushrooms are shown here raw, as a salad, accompanied by wild rocket.

Porcini (little pigs) are much prized. They are thought of as autumnal but they grow at any time there is a lot of rain followed by warmth. Once the word is out, the hills will be filled with porcini hunters because, in the shops, porcini cost a fortune.

Tonight, maybe tomorrow, huge platters of batter-fried porcini will be carried to restaurant tables where the diners will await with glowing eyes. As is the practice in Italy, one stuffs oneself with whatever is in season, but it does not do to eat too many porcini because they can cause sickness.

People worry about poisonous mushrooms but, in fact, all mushrooms are toxic to one degree or another, even cultivated ones. They also absorb radioactivity so those in the path of the Chernobyl fallout are still highly suspect, including the ones in this picture.

There is always at least one case of fatal mushroom poisoning locally every year. It is never a porcini look-alike but one called chiodini (little nails). They grow in beautiful clusters and the poisonous and non-poisonous look almost exactly alike. A lot of people won't eat them. Count me in their number.

The funny thing is, I saw porcini growing all over Scotland and had no idea they were edible, never mind prized elsewhere. Visiting Italians saw them and expected feasts of porcini in the restaurants and were horrified to find they were not eaten.