Dry porcini mushrooms from 2002??

[Mezzaluna]

I was cleaning out my cupboard and came upon a sealed package of dried porcini mushrooms which I bought in Florence, Italy in the summer of 2002. Are they still good?

I've come across mentions of dried porcini mushroom powder (made by pulverizing it in a spice/coffee grinder). What are your favorite uses for this product? All I can think of is sauce or soup. Can you use it like you would bread crumbs to crust a steak or roast??

[kuan]

Put it in pasta dough.

[siduri]

My experience with dry porcini is that even if sealed, they can be bug-ridden if they sit around too long. Look for tiny pinholes in the mushrooms. Here where i live, they wouldn't last that long.

[shel]

Originally Posted by Mezzaluna

I was cleaning out my cupboard and came upon a sealed package of dried porcini mushrooms which I bought in Florence, Italy in the summer of 2002. Are they still good?

I've come across mentions of dried porcini mushroom powder (made by pulverizing it in a spice/coffee grinder). What are your favorite uses for this product? All I can think of is sauce or soup. Can you use it like you would bread crumbs to crust a steak or roast??

The 'shrooms should still be good. You might try a wild mushroom oil ... grind up some 'shrooms in a blender or processor (I have an old, blade coffee grinder for such things) and look for a total powder of about 2 TBS. Add a TBS of Madeira wine and make a paste. Put the paste in a sterile jar and and add 2 cups of canola oil. Shake vigorously and set aside for a couple-three days, shaking the contents a couple-three times a day. Then strain the oil through a paper coffee filter. The oil might strain faster if warm. It'll keep for about 4-months if refrigerated. You can use the oil in marinades for beef. If you'd like, I may be able to dig up a marinade recipe for you.

Shel

[KYHeirloomer]

Drying (and smoking---the two are related) is the oldest form of food preservation. There are documented instances of dried foods lasting centuries and still being OK.

So, there should be no problem with your mushrooms. If they are bug ridden it's because the bugs were sealed in with them, and they were buggy to start with. Time should not affect this.

I sometimes make gnocci and spaetzle incorporating powdered dry mushrooms into the batter. Although I generally use Shitake (cuz I have a large supply of them, which are considerably older than your porcini) there's no reason the porcini shouldn't work. Indeed, they should add a nice touch to any savory dough.

[Mezzaluna]

Excellent! I cook for my in-laws (who don't want me to use any herbs or spices, including salt and pepper, at all) so this may be a good way to add flavor.

Siduri, I wondered about the bug issue too, but I don't see any evidence of them. I bought them from a vendor used by someone I know who lives in Florence and has a cooking school there.

I'm looking forward to experimenting with them! Thanks for the insights, everyone.

Mezz

[siduri]

Hi Mezzaluna,
i buy these mushrooms in italy, of course, since i live here, but we get these little bugs that weasel their way into every kind of packaging imaginable. I even had them in some vacuum packed thick plastic packages of flour, and they GOT in, weren;t there already, because they had eaten through the plastic. Since mushrooms are usually sold (here at least) in cellophane, and cellophane is made of trees, they can burrow through that like nothing.
And then again, the eggs may also be laid in the mushrooms before packaging, and then after some time they hatch and grow. Since mushrooms grow in the ground, they might well have bug eggs.
So, it's not true that they don;t get bugs, but maybe if your climate is a little less conducive to them, you might be able to keep them for a long time (or if you have air conditioning - ah, how i wish). If they come from italy, anyway, they will have a use-by date (consumare entro ....) with the month and year.

[Mezzaluna]

You bring up good points, Siduri. I'll inspect the mushrooms carefully before using them.

[Suzanne]

If there were bugs in them, by now you'd see all the little buggy carcasses in the bottom of the bag. I had that in a bag of porcini I brought back from Rome. I just pulled out the ones still caught in the slices.

If you grind the mushrooms, yeah, you might grind some long-dead bug eggs. I don't worry about that. At this point nothing will hatch. And anyway, they're all-natural! Hey, extra protein!

I have porcini powder that I add to mushroom sauces of all kinds, and to fillings where I want mushroom flavor but not chunks (not even the size of duxelles).

[siduri]

good points suzanne, and in fact, apart from the fact that you might be grossed out by bugs, my guess is they're harmless, and in any case, they would taste of porcini.
Not much help for me, since i don;t even like porcini!

[shroomgirl]

so glad I'm not the only one ok with alittle more protein in my wild shrooms.

porcini powder can coat pork loin (tender works well) then sear and finish in the oven....slice and serve on a salad this summer.

porcini cream gravy on biscuits, porcini powder in duxelle......
it's just a flavor agent used on/with something that have texture

[CapeCodder]

Originally Posted by siduri

Hi Mezzaluna,
i buy these mushrooms in italy, of course, since i live here, but we get these little bugs that weasel their way into every kind of packaging imaginable..

The buggers didn't weasel into the package. The eggs ere on the 'room when they were packaged. Happens all the time.

[CapeCodder]

Originally Posted by siduri

Hi Mezzaluna,
i buy these mushrooms in italy, of course, since i live here, but we get these little bugs that weasel their way into every kind of packaging imaginable..

The buggers didn't weasel into the package. The eggs were on the 'rooms when they were packaged. Happens all the time.