Galletti
Chanterelles are delicious. Firm-fleshed, beautifully orange and occasionally smelling fruity, similar to apricots, they are a delight to find. I love them well cooked in an omelette or with scrambled eggs. They are far more delicious than their near-relations, Winter Chanterelles:
Chanterelle is the French name, as the British, generally, are frightened and ignorant of toadstools and far more interested in portion size than in flavour, although that’s changing slowly.
Here’re my adventures with a duck egg omelette:
In Italy you can buy Chanterelles at your local supermarket. Here’s the display:
Funghi Galletti, the sign says.
There’s another fungus with them. I wonder what it is? They look like lumpy Boletes of some sort.
In Italy Chanterelles are known as gallinacci, galletti or finferli. Naturally they get included in wonderful pasta dishes, such as Chanterelles with taglione and ham, a classic from Trentino-Alto Adige. But at €21.50 per kg I think I’ll wait until I’m back in the UK and it’s the foraging season.
Delicious food is free and available to everyone if you’re willing to take a trip out into the woods.