Magic mushrooms- or three steps to heaven

There's something primitively satisfying about setting off into the woods to search for the evening meal carrying just a cloth bag. It's not so much hunting as gathering, seeking out Eierschwammel those shy chantrelle mushrooms – woodland gold.

Eierschwammerl get their name from their egg-yolk colour (Ei = egg and is pronounced like eye. I have a number of times been asked: “would you like a boiled Ei for tea?”)

Chantrelles grow in the higher and gloomier parts of the forest, often embedded in moss or needles, they are not easy to detect. The hunt involves scrambling in the steep, rarely visited areas, clambering over logs and around trees with myriad spiky branches at eye level and below.

Results are uncertain and can be disappointing. People in Embach all have their favourite spots for collecting which they will divulge to no-one. After fruitless wandering suddenly there is a flash of gold. Where there is one, there are usually more. There is work to be done to gently pull out the delicate stalk clean off some of the needles and pop them in the bag.

Today, after an hour or so there is nearly 1 Kg, enough in the bag for the evening meal for two. Sometimes there might be little more than a handful. Back home it is time for the least exciting part, cleaning off the needles, tiny creatures and other detritus from the woodland floor.

Ready for the boring bit - cleaning

Clean and ready for cooking

Then the preparation of the Eierschwammerlgulasch – sautéed with onions in a creamy sauce and served with big bready dumplings and a glass of Stiegl beer, a heavenly combination.

So, the three steps to heaven: first the gathering, then the eating and finally the vivid Technicolor dreams in HD the Eierschwammerl always produce – magic!

Preparation - mouth watering