One of the very few national companies working with wild mushrooms is settled in Alto de Pêga (Guarda)
“The Mushrooms’Connection”
In the district of Guarda, Eurofunghi, that’s its name, has settled its headquarters in Alto de Pêga. It is one of the very few national companies thriving in the existent market of wild mushrooms. The largest part of its production (over 80%) is sent to the Spanish market and, the rest, to the Italian, French, Swiss and Dutch cuisines. In our country, eating mushrooms is still considered a perilous experiment and that’s why, so far, Portuguese people have not yet become mushrooms fashion-addicts. In the roundabouts, some restaurants have already inserted mushrooms in their menus.
José Fonseca was born in a small village near Alto de Pêga and is the leader of Eurofunghi, with two of his sons. He used to be a forest ranger at the frontier. That’s where he was first introduced to the ‘mushrooms’ connection’. “José Fonseca remembers that:”There already was a solid trade going on with Spain and I knew a lot of persons who came over here to buy mushrooms”, but he adds “at this time, the region was populated by mushrooms”. The first step accompanied the decision to retire sooner and, from then on, very quickly, the company was created. In 1974, Beirafunghi was born, later on re-baptized as Eurofunghi. Back in those days, and still at the present ones, the selective mushrooms’ picking up was mostly assumed by Spanish operators “who purchased the product next to the local population living in areas where fresh mushrooms abounded” says the company owner. The latter would eventually collaborate with businessmen working on this field, in Spain. During the first stage “we functioned as the first link of the chain, acquiring and conditioning the mushrooms, which had been picked up all over the Beira Interior region. Later on, they would be sent to the neighboring country in order to be transformed and commercialized.
Thanks to the expansion of new markets all across Europe, “new businessmen, in this sector, show up in other countries, such as Italy”. From this moment on, the company began to enlarge its national range of action by installing new picking and purchasing poles “more adequate for the fast growing volume orders’ demands” as the ex-forest ranger explains.
In the wake of wood fires and bad weather conditions, José Fonseca explains “both quality and quantity of the picking campaigns dropped. There were still mushrooms to be picked up but not enough for commerce’s purposes”..Hence, six years ago, the company extended to Romania, on the Transylvania Carpathian Mountains, which have “great weather conditions and a high density of forestation”. That unit, on this second year of labor, was rewarded a second place on the ranking list of the most successful foreign companies installed and working in that country” says José Fonseca quite proudly.
Eurofunghi buys mushrooms from the Alentejo and Trás-os-Montes regions, on diverse sites of sale. A part of the raw material is then frozen or dried up. Over the last couple of years, the company actually has hit the impressive figure of 200 to 300 tons per year. The larger part of the mushrooms goes to Italy, France, Swiss, The Netherlands and “80 % of the products are absorbed by the Spanish market”
Yet, there is no market in Portugal, “probably due to lack of knowledge and to a very feeble buying power”. This treasure is limited to the wealthy ones. Prices vary depending on season, quality and quantity. For instance, boletus (better known in the region as cepas/cèpes) can actually be sold for ten euros per kilo. The canthanellus, for instance, a tradition in France’s “Réveillon de Noël” soars to twenty/thirty Euros, a fortnight or so before Christmas’s eve. There are, of course, other varieties such as the Amantita (15 to 20 euros), the frozen cone-liked Morchella (20 to 25 euros) and its dry version that can skyrocket to 300 euros/kilo. High quality dried boletus aereus may be bought for 40 Euros. The truffle, a celebrity in Italy, is the most expensive one: three to five thousand Euros a kilo “if there is a lot of it” says the man in charge, smiling.
Tips and Toxins
Despite his large experience in the matter, José Fonseca confesses that “it’s quite difficult to differentiate good mushrooms from toxic ones, for quite often, the dissimilarities are very tiny”. On a day-to-day basis, in order to tackle these odds, José Fonseca has always his books on mycology on him. He does make use of them quite often but as he complains aloud “there are but a few good books on mushrooms in Portugal”
So, “never eat unless you’re quite sure they won’t do any harm to you”. After having been picked up and cleaned, “mushrooms must immediately be boiled for, should they have any level of toxicity, and boiling temperature will surely do away with it”. This is a good advice from José, who does not eat every each and one.
Consumption related eminent risks
The specificity of the Mediterranean bushes makes of Portugal one among other European countries where wild mushrooms are the most easily available. Portugal is also one of those countries where the greatest number of mycophobes is at war with mushrooms, meaning: where eating mushrooms is sensed as a great peril. That would explain the each time lesser quantity of mushrooms eaten by the Portuguese people. Subsequently, death by toxic ingestion has also diminished. Nevertheless, this year, a very grave case was sent to Sousa Martins Hospital.
Ten year ago, there used to be an elevated number of persons coming to Sousa Martins’s ER service due to ingestions of toxic mushrooms. Today this number is almost insignificant says Adelaide Campos, Hospital Sousa Martins ER’s director. Yet, there are always yearly, one or two lethal cases. This year, we had to cope with a very serious case of intoxication. Ten or more cases, of a lesser gravity, are also registered over a current-year, translated into gastroenteritis and diarrheas. Míscaros and tartulhos are the region most consummated ones and they are the ones which “do show the highest number of side effects” warns the doctor. Sometimes, “children, who are keen on picking up mushrooms, are the ones who suffer the most from those complications”.
Region’treasures at lunch time.
In "Casas do Bragal" restaurant, near Guarda, (João Bragal), mushrooms were introduced in the menu, two years ago. The couple who owns the place, Manuela Cerca and Eugénio Alves, both complain at the same time on the difficulty “to find recipes for they are but a few in our gastronomy”. Many experiences later, the menu has put on some weight, and from October to December, one can order a few dishes made out of mushrooms. The meal could be set on: a mushroom cream (with Boletus and Lactarius, among others), then a Degustation Mushrooms course (eight mushrooms types, cooked in diverse ways). There is more to come: stuffed mushrooms au gratin, mushrooms panade, boletus’ risotto or pasta with sanchas. There are also other mushrooms cooked recipes that “have been updated to do along with the traditional Portuguese gastronomy” such as “ensopado de Borrego with “boletus” or Truffles with rabbit.”We must re-create recipes” says the owner. On the buffet, one can always find a bottle of truffled olive oil whenever and on whatever one feels like to.”The feed-back has been quite good” says proudly, Manuela Cerca, who does take profit of the endogenous products.
Another suggestion is Pousada Convento de Belmonte (Belmonte Convent’s restaurant), which is organizing, a month-long Mushroom Festival, under Chef Valdir Dudek’ Lubave s guidance.
Menus are based on several courses: as an hors-d’oeuvre: Mushrooms Cappuccino, with a foam of the Convent’s garden’s aromatic herbs; a Miscáro Rissoto; fresh cod crowned with a cantharelus cibareos stew; morquela esculenta’s creamed veal chops. For dessert: thin slices of fresh pineapple with cepes and nutmeg, Porcino’s licored ice-cream or wood mushrooms’ eau-de-vie and spices. On top of that, Chef Valdir will tell his secrets on mushrooms to the Pousada’s guests through a training program including, picking, preparation and making.
Published in O Interior. November 02, 2006: Theme: Society
