Type
These are the king of mushrooms in Italian cooking. Their Italian name means "little piglets", which aptly describes their bulbous stalks and rounded brown caps. In autumn, they are hand picked in woodlands, where they can grow to an enormous size, weighing more than 500 g each (although mushroom-hunters rarely leave them for long enough to grow to these proportions). There are many different varities of porcini (ceps), all of which have a fine flavour and meaty texture. Since porcini are hugely expensive, they are most often dried and used in small quantities to add flavour to field or other wild mushrooms. Drying actually intensifies the flavour of porcini, so they are not regarded as inferior to the fresh mushrooms - quite the reverse.

Use
To reconstitute them, soak 25 g dried mushrooms in 250 ml hot water for about 20 minutes until soft, then drain and use like fresh mushrooms. Keep the soaking water to use in sauces, stocks or soups; dry porcini are very concentrated, few quantity genrate an exquisite intense mushroom flavour.

How to store
They keep in a dried place and away from direct sunlight for about two years.

Producer
Alberoni, located in Ponte Dell' Olio, Piacenza, Emilia. This region is a region of natual wild growth of porcini.