L'arte dell'essicazione
Dried mushrooms between tradition and innovation
Drying is one of the oldest techniques for preserving food in general, and mushrooms in particular. Used for generations, it allows you to preserve the flavor, aroma and a good part of the nutritional properties of foods.
This very widespread practice uses both traditional methods, such as sun drying, and modern solutions such as oven drying or professional dryers.
Sun drying is the oldest method, the one that evokes autumn days in country houses, when mushrooms were sliced and left to dry on nets or racks exposed to direct sunlight.
It is a completely natural technique, which does not require the use of electricity and which gives mushrooms an intense aroma, linked to the memory of afternoons spent in the mountains.
However, it is also a very delicate method: it depends strictly on the atmospheric conditions and can be compromised by the presence of humidity, insects or dust.
The result is not always uniform: the slices can oxidize, taking on different colors from beige to dark brown, dry out excessively or, in the worst case, remain partially moist.
Mushrooms dried in the sun are generally darker and wrinkled, but maintain a more persistent and characteristic scent.
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The drying process in the oven or using dryers is quite different, and is now very popular especially at a professional level.
This method allows for precise control of the temperature and humidity level, ensuring rapid, safe and uniform drying.
It is ideal for obtaining mushrooms that can be perfectly preserved over time, with a more regular appearance and a stable consistency, more intact leaves and a more uniform and clear color, fewer crumbs and broken mushrooms.
Although this technique requires electricity and mushrooms dried in this way may generate a slightly less intense aroma than the traditional method, this method offers numerous advantages in terms of hygiene, food safety and consistent quality.
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In fact, oven-dried porcini mushrooms, since they have a lighter color, with flat and regular slices, are actually more pleasing to the eye.
Precisely for this reason, mushrooms dried with this method often have a higher price: the visual appearance also determines their commercial classification.
The sales name of dried mushrooms referred to in paragraph 1, letter a), must, by law, be accompanied by qualifying mentions corresponding to the characteristics of the mushrooms, established by decree of the Minister of Industry, Trade and Craft - Qualifying mentions that accompany the sales name of dried mushrooms. - (GU General Series n.249 of 24-10-1998).
