Home » Appetizer » Fruits of the Forest (Φρούτα-του-δάσους)

Fruits of the Forest (Φρούτα-του-δάσους)

Ever since I was a child, I’ve always enjoyed eating mushrooms. My earliest recollection of eating mushrooms were a batch sauted and smothered in butter and garlic, like Greek mom’s do.

I enjoy mushrooms on pizza, mushroom soup, a baby spinach salad with sliced mushrooms, mushroom crepes, pasta with a mushroom sauce or part of a tart or stuffing. They are really quite versatile and I love mushrooms so.

I have lots of Greek cookbooks and although there are some mushroom recipes, there aren’t much. Last year I discovered a Greek language blog called Manitarosyntages (mushroom recipes) and it was af if I have discovered my own batch of edible mushrooms during a hike in the forest.

The blog’s author is Dimitra Vergou-Evanggelopoulou and after reading a few of her posts, I discovered that she had also just released a cookbook full of Greek recipes with mushrooms…SCORE!

I inquired about ordering and shipping the book to Canada and Dimitra was very generous in offering me a complementary copy. The book arrived just before Christmas and it’s one of the best Christmas presents I’ve received in awhile.

Dimitra comes from the Greek prefecture of Grevena, which is located in Greece’s northernmost province, Macedonia. The area of Grevena has long been recognized as a bountiful area when it comes to mushrooms and most recently, truffles have been found.

Most of the truffles go to export but this delicacy is starting to appear in Greek dishes too! The book contains seventy recipes from soups & salads to appetizers and main courses and even some applications in Greek spoon sweets!

At this point in time, the book is only available in Greek but one could always buy the book, befriend a Greek and get a translation, no? For those interested in buying this fine cookbook, you may visit the publisher’s website here.

In the meantime, I’d like to thank Dimitra for her generosity in sending me the book and in typical Kalofagas style, it’s time for food and for sharing.

The other day I found some finger-food sized ouster mushrooms that had short stems and not woody at all. If you’re wondering…yes, the oyster mushrooms have that slight seafood taste and the stems can be too woody to eat. Simply break snap off the stems and they will break in their natural spot (much like asparagus).

This recipe makes for a quick and delicious meze or appetizer. It’s fried oyster mushrooms but you can use any mushroom you wish. What’s unique about this dish is that the batter uses white wine and that, my friends complemented the taste of the mushrooms.

It’s winter time in Greece, people are entertaining in their homes, dining with friends at tavernas and wine is flowing freely. Pick up a bottle of dry Greek white wine, make some of this batter, fry up some ‘shrooms and sip on the wine and discover how this appetizer complements the wine so well!

For this dish, I sipped on the Domaine Porto Karras Malagouzia. Malagouzia grapes, a Greek varietal that was almost extinct has made a resurgence and it made for a wonderful pairing with the fried mushrooms. The fruity finish complements the earthy mushrooms and a slight sweet aftertaste is left on the palate.

What are you waiting for? Go grab some Malagouzia and some mushrooms!

Fried Oyster Mushrooms (Μανιτάρια Tηγανητά)
(makes 1 appetizer plate for 4)

Approx. 1 lb. of Oyster mushrooms, stems trimmed
2 eggs

1 glass of dry Greek wine

approx. 1 cup of all-purpose flour
sea salt and black pepper

vegetable oil for frying

  1. In a large bowl, crack your eggs and add the wine and whisk to incorporate. Now add the flour while whisking until you get a thickness akin to pancake batter. Add about a tsp. of salt and pepper and allow to sit.
  2. Heat your deep fryer or other vessel used for frying and your oil should get to about 360-370F before frying.
  3. Dip your mushrooms in the batter and fry in batches until golden-brown. Set on a paper-lined plate, season with sea salt and serve warm with a dry Greek wine.

If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://kalofagas.blogspot.com then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author. © 2007-2009 Peter Minakis

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65 Responses

  1. I honestly never fried any mushroom before, in fact I never even eaten it before. I can only imagine how delicious it is.
    Cheers,
    Elra

  2. What a great appetizer. And that book must be a nice read too. Thanks so much for the info Peter, it’s something I am definitely going to look into.

  3. I want that book and I want it bad! No, it’s not want, it’s NEED, as in I really need that book. I’m so very happy to find out about it. Thanks!

  4. Well aren’t you the lucky boy. I also wish this book was available in english. I have a serious mushroom addiction, myself. :)

  5. Peter, you’ve made so many friends through your blog. The book sounds wonderful and those mushrooms are out of this world.

  6. Wow, what an amazing way of preparing mushrooms! Definitely delicious sounding and looking!

    Cheers,

    Rosa

  7. Wow, what an amazing way of preparing mushrooms! Definitely delicious sounding and looking!

    Cheers,

    Rosa

  8. Wow, what an amazing way of preparing mushrooms! Definitely delicious sounding and looking!

    Cheers,

    Rosa

  9. Wow, what an amazing way of preparing mushrooms! Definitely delicious sounding and looking!

    Cheers,

    Rosa

  10. Wow, what an amazing way of preparing mushrooms! Definitely delicious sounding and looking!

    Cheers,

    Rosa

  11. Wow, what an amazing way of preparing mushrooms! Definitely delicious sounding and looking!

    Cheers,

    Rosa

  12. Wow, what an amazing way of preparing mushrooms! Definitely delicious sounding and looking!

    Cheers,

    Rosa

  13. of all the mushrooms available in greece, oyster mushrooms are my favorite. we can find them easily in hania, and they really do taste like meat when they are fried

  14. I am sure no one can say No to this delicious fried mushrooms.
    I only started eating musshroom after comming to Belgium.
    I love them from the first time i tasted.

  15. I wish that was in English or that you lived near me or that I lived near you…Agh!!! Guess I’ll have to wait until it’s in English or you post all the recipes in English!!! That looks really good and we’ve talked about mushrooms before. I LOVE them!!!

    Hehehe-my word identification was “farking” Just funny…

  16. Interesting post, Peter. The mushrooms look great and not greasy at all. A great looking and I imagine tasting meze. So wine in the recipe, no ouzo…did you finish that never-ending bottle? :)

  17. My dearest Peter this look absolutely delicious, my problem is when I come always I feel hungry!!! bad boy!!LOL xxxGloria

  18. I can’t ever get enough mushrooms. I’ll have to stay away from the deep-fried sort though (unless I’m in Greece). What a treasure that cookbook is!

  19. I love mushrooms, fried, stuffed sauteed, in seafood boils…
    I’m thinking of making these for Super Bowl Sunday and I have a terrific dip that would be fantastic with these.

  20. This look insanely wonderful. Want to know something funny? When I was a kid my family would go morel mushroom hunting, and return home with a plentiful bounty. Here’s the sad part…I didn’t like mushrooms at the time… So, so sad…

  21. I adore mushrooms too, Peter, especially fried! I’ve never tried it with oyster mushrooms, but it looks so good that I may have to.

    How nice of that blogger to gift you her cookbook. What a find!

  22. I like mushrooms (since I was a child too) and of course I have the book which is really a very good one:)
    Nice “kourkouti” you made for the mushrooms Peter!

  23. WOW, I am a HUGE mushroom lover too, Peter and this makes my mouth water – especially just the pic of raw ones on the bottom – so much to be enjoyed!!!

    I have been seriously lacking a good source for mushrooms, but luckily there is a Whole Foods kind of near to me, where I can get my fix.

    You should do a mushroom series!!!

  24. These are very attractive, and I’m sure there are a lot of gents in my household who would scarf them right up!

  25. I’d be more than happy to join you for a glass of wine and a plate of these scrumptious fried mushrooms! You might have to restrain me though as I could easily polish off the entire plate before anyone else got a look-in!

  26. Oh man,this looks so scrumptious and crunchy and delicious……oohhh, I can almost taste it!!!
    I’m having fruit salad, blaghhhh!!!!

  27. When I saw the title in my google reader I thought I would see some berries here. This was a lovely surprise as I am also a mushroom lover. Sounds like a great cookbook to have.

  28. I was a late bloomer when it comes to liking mushrooms. Now I can’t get enough. I’d never seen them fried before–that sounds like it would be awesome. Now if only I could find someone wandering outside also…

  29. I was a late bloomer when it comes to liking mushrooms. Now I can’t get enough. I’d never seen them fried before–that sounds like it would be awesome. Now if only I could find someone wandering outside also…

  30. I was a late bloomer when it comes to liking mushrooms. Now I can’t get enough. I’d never seen them fried before–that sounds like it would be awesome. Now if only I could find someone wandering outside also…

  31. I was a late bloomer when it comes to liking mushrooms. Now I can’t get enough. I’d never seen them fried before–that sounds like it would be awesome. Now if only I could find someone wandering outside also…

  32. I was a late bloomer when it comes to liking mushrooms. Now I can’t get enough. I’d never seen them fried before–that sounds like it would be awesome. Now if only I could find someone wandering outside also…

  33. I was a late bloomer when it comes to liking mushrooms. Now I can’t get enough. I’d never seen them fried before–that sounds like it would be awesome. Now if only I could find someone wandering outside also…

  34. I have liked mushrooms since I was little, too, Peter. I still can’t get enough of them, nor can I get enough of anything fried. :)

  35. These look delightful Peter. Anything deep fried is good in my book and deep frying oysters just takes it to another level.

  36. Damn! What a cool book to find. I keep meaning to tempura some mushies myself, and the Asian store has so many right now.

  37. The first (and last) time I foraged for mushrooms, my brother smacked me up the head hard. A good call on his part, now that I think about it, because I’m no mycologist.
    Cool Christmas gift :)

  38. Way to go Peter! The plate looks and I guess it tastes great. Thank you so much for featuring my book in your blog and preparing one of the recipes! Your blog is a treat to read…

    Wild edible mushrooms are a gift of nature, especially in Northwestern Greece where I come from. Our city Grevena, has been officially declared as “Mushroom Town” and the local economy is gradually turning to gathering, studying, selling and cooking mushrooms. Nevertheless knowledge is power and anyone ‘hunting’ for wild mushrooms should always be aware and know exactly what he is looking for. Then again there are always stores that can supply the ‘little dwarfs’ of the forest…

    It’s been so nice talking to you Peter and I hope we get the chance to meet also in person. August, during our mushroom fest can be an excellent opportunity if you happen to be in Greece. Meanwhile to all the friends here interested in wild mushrooms, mushroom recipes and mushroom ‘culture’ check out my blog manitarosyntages, which stands for mushroomrecipes.

    Maybe I’ ll start translating some of the posts in English, while the thought of making an English version of the book has already crossed my mind…

  39. This would be wonderful with the then of the woods mushrooms I get from my brother’s trees.

  40. I will sure do! Love mushrooms too! I have mine like Greek moms but using olive oil instead of butter, garlic and parsley! Mmmmm delicious :D

  41. These look sooo good. stirred my memory of having these kin dof mushrooms in a quaint dairy farm once! Thats all we would have when we visited that place.
    Soma(www.ecurry.com)

  42. ok, i’m with you on the mushroom love. i love them. i could eat them for 3 meals a day. now, don’t get me wrong, they couldn’t make me go veggies, but i do love them!

  43. I’ve also always loved mushrooms, even as a child when most of my contemporaries were wary of them. These look fantastic – what a great appetiser for a dinner party!

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