Mushroom season

There is a Menorcan saying that goes: “At All Saints’ Day, myrtle berries and acorns; dry-foot mushrooms and saffron milk caps,” indicating that this is the ideal month to go into the countryside to look for mushrooms. In Menorca, three types of mushrooms are commonly consumed: cames seques, gírgoles and esclata-sangs.

After the first rains, towards the end of October, the earliest cames seques begin to appear, and within a few days they can already be found in shops. This edible mushroom is most commonly found in holm oak woods. Its scientific name is Cantharellus cibarius. In Menorca it is usually eaten with rice or in panadera dishes, and also fried as a side dish for meat.

The next mushrooms to appear are the gírgoles, of which there are two varieties in Menorca: thistle and fèrlera. Known scientifically as Pleurotus eryngii, they are usually gathered in open countryside; sandy enclosures or marés soil areas are the best places to find them.

These mushrooms are more highly appreciated in Ciutadella than in the rest of the island. They can be cooked over embers seasoned with chopped garlic and parsley; fried and mixed with young potatoes and bits of sobrassada; fried with sobrassada, botifarró sausage and pork loin; and they are also very tasty in a rice dish with peeled ribs.

Shortly before All Saints’ Day, esclata-sangs (Lactarius sanguifluus) begin to appear, the most prized mushroom in Menorca and the Balearic Islands. In Catalonia it is known as rovelló.

The earliest ones are pine esclata-sangs found in scrubland areas. Around Saint Catherine’s Day, the heather esclata-sangs (Lactarius deliciosus) appear, which, as their name suggests, are found in areas with abundant heather.

There are differing opinions as to which are the best. In cooking, they are prepared grilled with garlic and parsley, or fried with olive oil, chopped garlic and parsley and a pinch of paprika. They are a true delight eaten with rustic bread soaked in the frying oil. They are also baked with sobrassada or white botifarró sausage, or cooked in sauce. A rice dish with pork loin and esclata-sangs is also delicious.