Farming firm-fleshed fungus

Not far from Nelson in the back reaches of Upper Moutere, Neudorf Mushrooms' Hannes and Theres Krummenacher will soon be picking the season's early saffron milk cap mushrooms, ready to pack up and sell.

The firm-fleshed fungus is prized as a delicacy in much of Europe, particularly Portugal and Spain, but is a relative stranger to menus and palates here in New Zealand.

Hannes and Theres left their Swiss home 12 years ago, moving to New Zealand with their four children in search of a better life.

Avid mushroom hunters in their own country, the pair found a limited selection of fungi available to eat in their new home country.

Though their initial plan was to cultivate truffles on their 50ha property, that dream was dashed when soil testing revealed a low pH level, unsuitable for growing the delicate, subterranean fungus, which doesn't thrive in an acidic environment.

And so the plan to grow wild mushrooms was hatched.

Initially, 35 trees were infected by the spore as saplings seven years ago.

"We weren't sure how much we could harvest from the few trees to start with, but after three years, it was too much to use at home and we started to sell them at markets and in restaurants," Hannes says.

"The trees produce now up to 4kg each and we have already orders from restaurants and people who regularly buy them from us during the season."

The couple now have 40 trees producing the mushrooms, another 100 planted, and a further 200 on order to put in the ground this winter.

The mushrooms are wild, grown outdoors rather than in tunnels, and without the help of fertiliser.

The Krummenachers have also branched out, using spore to cultivate birch bolete and larch bolete mushrooms too.

The milk caps, distinguishable from other mushrooms by the yellow-coloured sap they seep when bruised and orange blotches on the cap, grow only around the roots of pine trees infected by the spore as saplings.

Hannes and Theres sell them at the Nelson Farmers' Market to those with adventurous tastes. Hannes says that while people have a genuine interest in the product, it takes more than just a spiel about the virtues of the yellow beauties to convince them to break away from their white button or portobello habit.

"People are very interested in wild mushrooms," he says. "We have to do a lot of talking and normally, we take a fry pan and get them to taste. That converts most of them."

Hannes says the mushrooms are at their best when cooked in a little olive oil with salt and pepper, and this is how they are commonly served in European kitchens. But the mushrooms' firmness, even when cooked, means they are also a welcome addition to pasta dishes, stews and stuffings. Their suitability for creamy sauces also makes them popular in classic French recipes.

Creamy saffron milk caps on toast

25g pine nuts

1 tsp olive oil

50g butter plus a little extra for spreading

1 shallot, chopped finely

350g saffron milk caps, trimmed, sliced

45ml cream

5 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley

Salt and pepper

4 slices of baguette (cut lengthwise), or other good white bread

Heat oil in fry pan on a moderate heat and fry pine nuts until brown. Put to one side. Put half butter in pan, add shallot and cook until soft. Add mushrooms and other half of butter, cook until soft. Stir in cream and cook until thick. Add parsley and season. Toast the bread and spread with a little butter. Spoon mushrooms on top, scatter pine nuts on top. COLLEEN SIMPSON

* Neudorf Mushrooms' products can be ordered online for between $25 and $35 a kilogram, plus postage and packaging. Visit www.neudorfmushrooms.co.nz for ordering information.

- © Fairfax NZ News