Known as bolete, cep or tatti in Finnish.
Family: Boletaceae.
Genus: Boletus.
Species: B. edulis.
August in Northern Finland means autumn already. And autumn is my favorite season when it comes to produce and seasonal ingredients. Autumn is the perfect time for foraging, too, as nature seems to leave the best for the last. It’s in this season that one can find lingonberries, currants, cranberries and, especially, mushrooms. Mushroom foraging has been a passion both in my family and my husband’s and finally last year we asked our families to train us into the mushroom picking culture. To our great happiness, we live right next to a forest that, with a little rain and a little sunlight, becomes packed with mushrooms. This is a particularly good year for porcini, and we definitely are not complaining about it!
Last year we already shared a very traditional recipe, that is the Wild Mushroom Salad and also the Creamy Mushroom Soup. This year is the turn of an Italian classic, the Mushroom Risotto.
A few tips before we start going through the recipe:
Pick your mushrooms from a very clean area, as mushrooms have the tendency of absorbing toxins around them.
Being a risotto, you can imagine how important the quality of the rice is for this recipe. I recommend using either arborio or carnaroli rice, which are the very classic ones that are used in Italy.
Risotto is that kind of food that has to be eaten as soon as it’s ready so if you have some guests coming over, time it right.
Parsley is optional, but in my opinion essential to give that fresh touch to this dish.
This recipe calls for wild, tasty mushrooms and the amount needed is according to their taste. So if you substitute wild mushrooms with for example champignons, you will need to add much more.
Nordic Foraging project by Thais FK supported by Taike
Thais FK
Italian photographer, recipe developer and content creator, Thais came to Finland by chance, but stayed for love. Through photography she tells stories about traveling, eating, cooking and living sustainably, in order to discover new cultures and not to forget her origins.
Thais FK's portfolio: thaisfk.com