My new life in Burgenland: Lunch Almost Mushrooms Out Of Control.

Sunday, 10 August 2014

Lunch Almost Mushrooms Out Of Control.

A basket of handpicked mushrooms from the forest just in time...

A lazy Saturday morning morphed into an early lunch. The first signs of hunger just made an appearance and I was wondering what to make to appease them, when Bob walks in holding the solution.

As you know, we have been so prolific with our jamming, that we of course hand the spoils over to friends and family with great gusto. Bob did a jam run yesterday morning to our friends down the road. It sounds very complicated but merely involves Bob putting on slops and meandering 50 meters down the lane holding jars of our homemade jam.

Well, he came back laden with goods. The goods. Bob was carrying a basket brim full with mushrooms. Mushrooms that had just been picked in the forest behind us. No, Bob didn't pick them. Our friend did a quick foray into the forest and picked mushrooms for us, as a Thank you. Look, everyone who has a spot to pick mushrooms keeps it a secret. Great care is taken so that nobody follows or discovers the location. There is an artform to picking mushrooms and finding their hang-out!

Honestly, in the past I have always been the observer when my Mum cooked hand picked mushrooms. To many story books of the poison mushrooms etc swirling around in the head. On top of which I tend to think that at least one person needs to be alert enough to drive to the doctor, should a bad mushroom have slipped into the batch! Yet, for some reason, yesterday I decided to eat the mushrooms.

Bob cleaned them while I quickly drove to our tea-room to get old bread rolls to make Knödels. Oh, Mushrooms with Knödels is a must...

" Bob, you would know if a bad mushroom was in there? "
" No, but my friend hand-picked them for us. They are perfect! "
" Well, as long as you were a good friend this past week....?!"

It took about twenty minutes to clean them. In the meantime I had phoned my Mum to double check how to make the perfect Knödel. In the past they have been known to break up in the pot and create a bready soup...which doesn't look or taste good!

If only I could find words that are ample enough to describe to you the wonderful aroma that wafted throughout the house. Even before we cooked them. There is a distinct aroma to a real mushroom ( made by nature, not in a hothouse ) that encompasses the meadows, leaves, earth, moss and perfect soil. The forest mushroom only grows when the conditions are perfect for it. The aroma wafting when we started to cook them, was a notch up the ladder of fabulous taste sensations.

I was halfway down the driveway when I did a quick turn around to ask Bob to take a few photos. He had already cleaned half the basket. But don't these look delectable?