Cook and Drink

The Saffron Milk Cap is a popular mushroom in Spain, Portugal, Turkey, Scotland, Poland, Russia and many other countries. In Spain they are combined with garlic and parsley, in Turkey with spinach to make börek or used in a rich tomato stew and in Poland and Russia they are salted with herbs such as dill and caraway. We have prepared them with red bell peppers and chorizo and squid.
We love the flavour of the Saffron Milk Cap (mild, nutty, a touch peppery) and since they keep their texture when cooked we wanted to use them in a stew. We combined the mushrooms with egg plant and potatoes. It worked very well: the aromas and taste of the mushrooms with the slight bitterness of the egg plant and the generous flavour of the potatoes cooked in vegetable stock. During the cooking process the potatoes will become more yellow thanks to the Saffron Milk Cap. Beautiful, delicious (as in Lactarius Deliciosus) and uplifting.

Wine Pairing

We decided to enjoy a glass of Chardonnay, produced by Mont Clou, Spain. The wine has aged ‘sur lie’, which means that the wine remained in contact with (dead) yeast cells, grape skin and other remainders of the grapes. The effect of this way of ageing is that the wine will become more complex and more flavourful. Champagne is an example of a wine aged ‘sur lie’.
The chardonnay from Mont Clou has aromas of ripe fruit, pineapple perhaps? Its flavour is round, soft and a touch oaky. A very nice accompaniment of the stew. In general you’re looking for a medium bodied, fruity, white wine, preferably with some oak.

What You Need

• 150 grams of Saffron Milk Cap
• One small Shallot
• One Garlic Clove
• One Potato (waxy)
• One small Egg Plant
• Paprika (Powder)
• Chilli Powder
• 250 ml Vegetable Stock
• Parsley
• Olive Oil
• Crusted Bread

What You Do

Slice the eggplant and quarter each slice. Wash the potato and quarter. Clean the mushrooms and quarter. You want the eggplant, potato and mushrooms chunks to be of similar size. Chop the shallot and the garlic, not too fine. Fry the eggplant in a non-stick pan with lots of olive oil until golden. Set aside. Glaze the shallot in a heavy iron skillet. When ready, add the garlic. Wait a few minutes, then add the mushroom. Fry for a few minutes. Add the potato and fry for another few minutes. Add the paprika and chilli powder. Make sure everything is coated with spices and olive oil. Add the eggplant and the vegetable stock. Allow to cook for 30 minutes or until the potato is ready. You may want to add some water and mix, so check every 5 or 10 minutes. Two minutes before serving add some chopped parsley. Mix.
Serve with crusted bread.

PS

More mushroom recipes on our mushroom page.