For the past week or so rumours of the start of the porcini season- the local wild mushrooms that grow up in the mountains around Barga – have been percolating around the city. There have even been one or two furtive like images of the mushrooms posted up on the forums and circulating on cell phones but today all the rumours became fact when one of the seasoned mushroom pickers walked into Barga Vecchia with a wicker basket on his back containing the first of this year’s precious crop. The recent rain during May and the start of June should mean a good season for the mushroom hunters. The porcini have arrived and will be on the table for a few lucky clients at the L’Osteria in Piazza Angelio this week.
Porcini (Boletus edulis, the Latin name) is a highly regarded edible mushroom. It has a number of English names, including cep (from its Catalan name cep or its French name cèpe), king bolete and penny bun. A common term in current use is porcini (from the plural of its Italian name porcino).
The scientific name, Boletus, from the Latin stem bolet-, meaning “superior mushroom” and edulis, meaning edible, explains the species’ culinary qualities. This mushroom has a distinct aroma reminiscent of fermented dough. It has a higher water content than other edible mushrooms. source
A wee metion of Silvano Togneri at this time of year might be approriate as he was known as THE MUSHROOM MAN to most of the tourists that asked who is that giving out flowers and cherries to everyone,he was part of the spirit of Barga.
Billy – there was a concert a couple of days ago dedicated to Silvano from the band from Lucca – Manolo Strimpelli Nait Orchestra.
It nicely sums up living in the nearby city of Lucca and hidden in there is a couple of images of our very own outsider musician Silvano Togneri who died last year and is still greatly missed in Barga
thank you for the response sorry it took me till now to read it, we had some good fun with Silvano in Bar Sport,I have given some good photos of Silvano to Franco he was at our friends birthday party where he sang and played guitar about three years ago ,as you say he is sadly missed by locals and the tourists who were lucky enough to have met him.