Finferli, and the Case Against the Sealed Tray

Overcast all day, cool enough in the morning for the heavier sweater, and a line of dry leaves had collected along the garden wall overnight — the wind does the raking and then leaves the pile in the one spot I have to walk past. I swept them before I went out, which meant the broom was still in my hand when I got back, and the second sweeping took half the time of the first. There’s a lesson in that about doing things twice, but I’m not going to pretend I learned it.

At the market the mushroom man had finferli, loose in a shallow crate, the real ones — uneven, a bit sandy, some with the gills showing. I bought a good handful. I’ll say this firmly, since I’ve decided: mushrooms sealed under plastic film are a small daily crime. They sweat in there, they go slimy by the next morning, and somebody designed that tray on purpose. Loose in paper, straight home, cooked that day. That’s the whole system.

Cleaning them takes five minutes if you don’t panic: wipe each one with a damp cloth, trim the woody end of the stem, and never soak them. Then the trick, which is really the same point as the tray — mushrooms are mostly water, so put them in a dry pan first, no oil, and let them give up that water and cook it off. When they start to squeak and brown at the edges, then the oil goes in, and the garlic, and they fry instead of steam. Crowd them and you get soup. Same water, same problem, whether it’s in a tray or in a pan.

I had them over tagliatelle, with parsley and a little pecorino, and ate the last forkfuls standing at the stove out of the pan, which I don’t recommend and will absolutely do again. The word porcino means “little pig,” which I find unreasonably charming, and finferlo means nothing you could guess from the shape. A good dinner for a grey day, and the kitchen still smells of garlic.

Recipe: Tagliatelle ai Finferli

Ingredients

300 g finferli (chanterelles) or other firm mushrooms, cleaned and trimmed
250 g tagliatelle
2 cloves garlic, finely sliced
3 tablespoons olive oil
a small knob of butter
a handful of flat-leaf parsley, chopped
salt and black pepper
grated pecorino, to serve

Preparation

Wipe the mushrooms with a damp cloth and trim the stem ends. Cut any large ones in half so they’re roughly even.
Put them in a dry frying pan over medium heat and cook, stirring, until they release their water and it evaporates and they begin to brown, about 6–8 minutes.
Add the olive oil and garlic, season with salt and pepper, and cook another 4–5 minutes until golden. Stir in the parsley and the butter off the heat.
Meanwhile cook the tagliatelle in well-salted water until al dente. Drain, keeping a little of the water, and toss the pasta with the mushrooms, adding a splash of the water to bring it together.
Serve with a good grating of pecorino and more pepper.