I’m wearing rubber boots that have always been a little too big for my feet. A basket is in my left hand and the size is always inversely proportional to the products that it will contain. A stick in the other hand is to keep from falling and protect against malicious animals. And so I used to venture into the woods surrounding the village where I lived as a child and there I spent entire afternoons. I was never alone. There are too many dangers in the woods for a little girl of ten or so. My favourite companion was my grandfather. When he saw a mushroom, he’d make it so that I would find it and stoop to pick it up (in this, in fact, I did him a favour). Whereas my brother would make me return home with an empty basket or, at most, a few curly chestnuts, while my mum could never find any mushrooms at all. I return to walk among the dead leaves, broken branches and fallen acorns after all these years in the woods near the Fattoria La Maliosa and experienced a step back in time.
And look at how we enjoyed the fresh mushrooms we picked today! Here’s the recipe, which is one without specific quantities 😉
Carpaccio of Caesar’s mushrooms
Ingredients
fresh Caesar’s mushrooms
La Maliosa biodynamic extra virgin olive oil
walnuts
parmesan cheese
black pepper
salt
Method
Clean the mushrooms by removing any earth from the stem with a piece of moistened paper towel. Cut into thin slices. Place in a bowl and toss with olive oil, salt, ground black pepper and walnuts. Eat immediately so that the mushrooms remain crunchy.
