With the arrival of autumn, there are still some unusual things to to do around our province. With the cooler weather, get out and about with your family and/or a few friends and enjoy a little Fungus Fun!
October is the ideal time to search for mushrooms , which start to sprout thanks to the drop in temperatures and the first rains. An activity that can be done outdoors as a family, and that gives the option of enjoying a very different day out. Furthermore, as long as the mushrooms collected are good, later you can enjoy them in a good homemade dish. ( See link to 54 recipes below)
One of the places most well known for this “harvest” is the Font Roja natural area , located between Alcoy and Ibi . Another remarkable point is the Sierra de Mariola , a natural park on the border between Valencia and Alicante.
Both are paradise for mycology lovers. Anyone going out walking will return with baskets loaded with mushrooms of various species and sizes. The number of specimens that can be found of course depends on the last rains . But if the weather is good, it is not uncommon to find 4 or 5 different species such as chanterelles and boletus , morels or even the rather scary looking but totally edible, trumpets of death.
Tips for picking mushrooms:
• Do not uproot the fungus , but cut the stem.
• Store the mushrooms in a wicker basket so that it spreads spores and does not get crushed.
• Do not cut specimens that are not well known or mushrooms that are deteriorated, near roads or garbage dumps.
• Always only pick the ones that are going to be consumed – leave some for others who follow.
