La Feria del Hongo (The Mushroom Fair) 2009, Senguio, Michoacán

The wild Amanita caesarea and amanita jacksonii are two edible varieties of the common amanita fungus.  Watch out for the amanita phalloides, though: it's known as the death cap and is definitely inedible.

This time last year, Mexico Cooks! attended the annual Feria del Hongo (Mushroom Fair) in Senguio, Michoacán.  The fair was wonderful, a tremendous lesson in the wild and cultivated edible and medicinal mushrooms of Michoacán.  Since then (and to my great surprise), the article about the mushroom fair has appeared as a link on several mushroom and mycology websites.

Wild amanitas, sliced and ready to cook.  If you can't find amanitas where you live, try these dishes with farmed portabellos, another meaty and flavorful mushroom.

Due to a conflict on our calendar, Mexico Cooks! isn't able to attend the August 21-23 Feria del Hongo this year.  In honor of the mushroom fair, we'd like to present some photographs and recipes by Fulvio Castillo, a biologist who is also a mycologist, photographer, and extraordinary cook.

Frying amanitas in canola oil.

Chiles serrano, nuez (pecans), and nuez de la India (cashews).  Toasting the nuts and chiles intensifies their flavors.

Add the toasted nuts and cream to the frying mushrooms, along with a big pinch of marjoram.  Then grind the toasted chiles, avocado, onions, some cilantro, and a bit of salt in a molcajete (volcanic stone mortar and pestle) to make a simple salsa de aguacate (avocado salsa).

Green, yellow, and red sweet peppers, sliced into the sauté pan for yet another guisado (prepared dish) of amanitas.

Voilá!  A deliciously healthy comida (main meal of the day).

Roasted peanuts and dried, toasted red chile yahualica, crushed together in the molcajete.  The end product will be salsa de cacahuate (peanut sauce), a traditional indigenous accompaniment to main dishes.

Continue to crush the peanuts with a little salt and the chiles until very fine-textured.  The stone pestle (upper lefthand corner of the photo) is called the tejolote.  Little by little, add water and continue to grind until the salsa is smooth and of the consistency you like.

Ready to devour: mushrooms, vegetables, and two kinds of salsas: avocado and peanut/chile.  Clockwise from five o'clock: salsa de cacahuate, mushrooms with zucchini, mushrooms with cream, mushroom stems, and mushrooms with mixed sweet peppers.

Thank you, amigo Fulvio Castillo, for permission to use your fine photographs and marvelous recipes.  If you'd care to see more of his wonderful photos,
check this site.  During the coming week, Mexico Cooks! will be buying all the ingredients for at least one of these dishes–plus peanuts and chiles to prepare the salsa de cacahuate.  Se nos hace agua la boca–it makes our mouths water!

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