King Mushroom

Mushrooms have always been a part of the Russian diet, going back to ancient times, when they helped peasant and hunter-gatherer communities survive long, hard winters.

With the advent of Christianity and its strict Orthodox mores and plentiful fasting days, mushrooms took on the role of meat replacements, used by both lay people and the clergy. Interestingly, up until just a few centuries ago, Russians only picked three kinds of mushrooms: porcinis (today called белые, “white mushrooms,” or боровики, but previously known as “lips,” губы), milk mushrooms (грузди), and saffron milk caps (рыжики). This was because none of these mushrooms had poisonous “doubles” that could be picked by mistake.

But as the forests were cut down to make way for arable land and growing cities, the quantity of “noble” mushrooms dwindled, and Russians expanded their mushroom repertoire. In the eighteenth century, porcinis became known as “white mushrooms” because they retained their whiteness when dried, unlike the “black” boletus, such as birch boletes (подберезовики), aspen boletes (подосиновики) and suede boletes (моховики), all of which turn black.

It was also at this time that people began picking chanterelles, slippery jacks, honey fungi, lurid boletes, and woolly milk caps. In the nineteenth century, there was even a period when truffles were picked in homage to European trends, but that skill was lost after the 1917 revolution. Following the Civil War and the years of famine and war, Russians expanded their  mushroom-picking still further, adding such things as russula mushrooms (сыроежки, “can-be-eaten-raw”), shiitakes, smoke-balls, button mushrooms, and others.

Unfortunately, however, as the variety of picked mushrooms grew, so too did the cases of poisoning, as people had to learn first-hand which mushrooms needed to be boiled prior to cooking, which had poisonous doubles, which can cause indigestion, and which are completely safe.

Today, when mushroom-picking has become a sport for the city dwellers and a source of extra income for villagers, Russians still prefer the porcinis above all, but they are also happy to pick and buy chanterelles, aspen boletes, and saffron milk caps. That said, over 100 types of mushrooms are picked here today – some for drying and freezing, some for pickling, others for salting.

The classic mushroom soup is made with porcini mushrooms and pearl barley, but that is a drawn-out affair, as you have to cook the porcini mushrooms and pearl barley separately (the barley takes close to an hour), and only then combine them with everything else. A simpler, but no less delicious recipe involves chanterelles and rice, so this is the version I offer, based on nearly 40 years of practice.

Mushroom Soup

INGREDIENTS

3 pounds of fresh chanterelles for a three-quart pot of soup

3 Tbsp of uncooked rice

3-4 small potatoes (or increase the number of potatoes and forego the rice)

1 carrot

1 onion

Salt and paper to taste

Sour cream for serving

Wash and clean the chanterelles thoroughly. It may seem like far more than you will need, but the mushrooms will lose considerable weight and volume as they cook, and you need lots of mushrooms to make a hearty soup.

Quarter the large chanterelles, halve the smaller ones. Peel and dice the potatoes. Peel and dice the carrot and the onion.

Place the cut chanterelles into a large pan and cover them with three quarts of water, then bring it to a boil. Skim off the foam that arises, and then add the rice and potatoes. In the meantime, melt some butter in a small pan and fry the onion and carrot to make what, in the Russian culinary tradition, is called зажарка. Add the onion-carrot mixture to the soup, then add salt and paper to taste. Let the soup simmer until the rice and potatoes are fully cooked.

Serve with a dollop of sour cream.