Soria: the perfect place for novice mushroom lovers
Boletus! What a learned name, so adored, so relished. It is one of those words that awaken the taste buds just by naming or hearing them. Pure magic. However, if you get to the Pinar Grande forest, in the confines of the reservoir of the Rope of the Well in Soria , be careful not to look like a redneck urbanite. Here they talk about mushrooms and the tastiest varieties like the one who talks about the Numancia forward. And they do it with respect, with that tender care of someone who loves a land and fears its over-exploitation. In past years, attempts were made to regulate the collection to avoid looting at close range by charging a fee, but now it is better to teach the visitor that it is convenient to collect enough, what is fair and what is necessary.
This Gastro Rally is comprehensive, and goes from the harvesting of the ingredients in the forest to the hands of the best chefs, who rack their brains thinking about how to get the most out of them. And picking mushrooms has double pleasure, that of searching and that of finding. Well, and also the one to show off the basket (note: always a basket to allow the fungi to release their spores). That is why this Pinar Grande is a perfect starting point. The province of Soria is the largest mycological area on the planet , and this place, one of the ideal spaces for novices due to the large number of mushrooms. Here you don't have to bend your neck to find them or lose your senses because of gluttony. You just have to know what you are looking for and avoid the most painterly. The boletus, the macrolepiotas, the agaricus or the chanterelles are good mushrooms, ugly and not bad or harmful . The amanitas are the black widows of the pine forest, the femme fatale, the Sharon Stone of Basic Instinct.
If before we talked about the boletus almost as an erotic myth, the truffle is black gold of the dishes, the best friend of the chefs and the touch of distinction of a top restaurant. In the oak forests of Abejar is the largest truffle plantation in the world . It is operated by the Arotz brand, also responsible for democratizing this delicacy with its Navaleno factory where they make oils, risotto preparations and other foods that give a kitchen cachet. Walking among the oaks is like walking on padded ground, on a clay sponge where the truffle has a suitable cradle to grow, expand, become fat and attract dogs trained specifically for it . It is still a spectacle to observe how the dogs sniff the ground as if there were no tomorrow to mark and notify the 'hunters' where each fruit is. They reward them with a cookie to distract them from nibbling on the coveted product. In good times, it has been paid up to 1500 euros per kilo.
A dog in search of truffles
After a morning touching, smelling and looking for mushrooms, his thing is the taste tribute. Castilla has plenty of reasons to be eaten by mouthfuls, and the mushroom is nothing more than the culmination of a whole sample of tasty ingredients and ancient recipes. But Soria, with mushrooms as a weapon, has gone one step further and has solemnized mycology, disseminating all its possibilities among citizens and the best chefs with its III Mycological Congress. Quite a virguería since they have managed to attract the best speakers and the most restless chefs on the international scene.
The gastronomic twist to the matter comes in the form of mushroom and truffle tastings, accompanied by wines from Ribera de Duero and Rueda or local beers such as Caelia or Arévaka. The menus of the restaurants shine with their mycological menus , with authentic tributes to mushrooms both as companions and protagonists of the dishes. Many of them have a bit of 'too much passion for their own thing' and abuse ad nauseam. Those who have best taken the temperature of this ingredient and have known how to raise it to the label "Oh, my God" are spread throughout the province.
here they go three recommendations:
**Virrey Palafox Restaurant in Burgo de Osma.** Mythical for its days of slaughter but it also knows how to make the most of mushrooms, with wonderful crepes and pomace shots with chanterelles inside that round off the evening.
** Baluarte de Soria Restaurant.** Its chef, the brilliant Óscar García, fuses mushrooms with dishes as diverse as salmon ceviche with boletus, potatoes with cod and chanterelles or an exquisite dessert such as chocolate land with the aroma of mushrooms.
** Real Posada de la Mesta de Molinos de Duero .** Despite being located in a rustic town with a traditional aesthetic, this hotel-restaurant knows what's going on. Not only does it have the best gins in its display case, but also exciting recipes are prepared in its kitchen (there is no word that defines it better) such as macrolepiota scallops or crispy cod with Trumpets of the dead aioli, a mushroom with a somewhat sinister name.
Grilled boletus at the Virrey Palafox Restaurant