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Caesar's Mushroom
Amanita caesarea · Fungus
40 pairings
Caesar's mushroom (Amanita caesarea), the "imperial" or "royal" mushroom, is the most prized edible member of the Amanita genus — a striking fungus with a brilliant orange-red cap, buttery-yellow gills and stalk, and a distinctive white cup (volva) at its base, gathered from warm oak and chestnut woodland around the Mediterranean. Where most of its close relatives are deadly, this one is celebrated: mild, sweet and nutty, firm-fleshed and faintly fruity, it was reputedly the favourite of Roman emperors and remains a coveted delicacy in Italy (ovolo, ovulo buono), southern France, Spain and the Balkans. The youngest specimens, still enclosed in their egg-like white sac, are eaten raw and sliced paper-thin in salads; older, opened caps are grilled, sautéed or slipped into risotto and pasta.
Picking a good onedrag
Checked, firm, dry, unbruisedSlack, weeping, sour
Stall freshFirm, colour dulling, still dry: grill or saute the opened caps, or fold them into risotto. Same provenance rule, and cooking is no substitute for it - the amanitins are heat stable and are not inactivated by cooking.Everyday best
Where it came fromA greengrocer or supplier who names their source
The capColour dulling, a scuff or two at the rim
In the handFirm, springs back, cool and dry
Stem and cut baseCut end tanning, the stem still firm
SmellMild and a little flat
What to look for, from checked, firm, dry, unbruised to slack, weeping, sour.
Keeping ittap a band
A domestic fridge holds it about 2× longer than the counter.
Humidity
90-95%
Damp air, but never wet. Dry fridge air shrinks the cap and dulls its gloss, while water condensing inside a pack turns the skin slimy.
Airflow
Vented, never sealed
A paper bag or the vented punnet, not sealed film. Mushrooms also take up odours from what they sit beside, green onions especially.
Browns beside the fruit bowl
Mushrooms give off almost no ethylene but brown in it, so keep them away from apples, pears and other ripening fruit in the fridge.