Cooking wild mushrooms at home

Learn how to clean and prepare wild mushrooms in the video below.
My teacher for the day was Geert Vanrossum. Not only a talented chef, but an avid mushroom hunter.

Cleaning your mushrooms

Geert picked the mushrooms himself in the Ardennes a few days before i came by his house to cook.
In the forest, he found Chanterelles and Pied de Moutons.

To clean them, use the back of a small kitchen knife to scrape off the dirt. The Pied de Moutons have a flaky underside that can be removed entirely, making them quite easy to clean. The Chanterelles need a little more attention under the mushroom tops, as dirt can get trapped between the ridges.

Important Tips to Keep in Mind

The age-old debate: to wash or not to wash. I've always been told never to wash mushrooms with water. However, some wild mushrooms can be exceptionally dirty, and cleaning them by hand can be quite arduous! Quickly rinsing them in water can help remove some of that excess dirt. The key here is to ensure they dry COMPLETELY after washing, either on a cloth or paper towels. It may take hours for them to dry, so consider washing them well before cooking, possibly even the day before.

Prep Time

Once your mushrooms are clean, tear apart the Chanterelles and cut the Pied de Moutons with a knife. This doesn't require precision; you just want to aim for roughly the same size.

Finely chop a small onion and a handful of parsley.

Time to cook the mushrooms

Important Tips to Keep in Mind

1. Heat it up: Get your pan piping hot! Start with olive oil, not butter, as butter can easily burn. Add your mushrooms immediately after the oil is in the hot pan to prevent the oil from burning. The butter will come into play later.

2. Avoid overloading: Don't overcrowd your pan. Each mushroom should make contact with the bottom of the pan. It's better to cook them in smaller batches multiple times than attempting to cook them all at once.

3. Maintain dryness: Throughout the cooking process, it's crucial to keep the mushrooms as dry as possible. Some mushrooms release a significant amount of water while cooking. If this happens, remove the mushrooms from the pan and allow them to drain in a strainer. Once the excess water has drained out, return them to the pan for continued cooking.

4. Let them sizzle: When your mushrooms hit the pan, let them sizzle for a while. Allow them to sing and sizzle for a few minutes before turning them over. This will help the pan retain its heat and give your mushrooms that beautiful golden color. Avoid tossing them around right away.

Final Touches

Once you've cooked all your mushrooms, if you've done them in batches, combine them in the pan.

At this stage, add salt and pepper. Mushrooms love salt, so don't hold back. However, make sure to add the salt only at this point, right at the very end. If you add it too soon, your mushrooms may dehydrate and lose their water. We want to avoid boiling our mushrooms.

Now, add the finely chopped onion.

Introduce a generous tablespoon of butter and allow it to melt completely.

Once the butter is melted, remove the mushrooms from the heat.

Add the parsley just before serving.

Time to eat!

This preparation can be used in many different recipes. We ate them simply on toasted sour dough bread, with a little bit of grated pecorino and a nice drizzle of olive oil.
But they can be added to a great pasta dish or on top or risotto. The possibilities are endless. Enjoy!