Ingredients
Mushrooms
- 400 gfresh carreroles (fairy ring mushrooms, Marasmius oreades), or 40 g dried, stalks discarded
- 3 tbspextra virgin olive oil
- 20 gbutter
- 2garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 15 gflat-leaf parsley, chopped
- 0.5 tspfine salt
- black pepper
Omelette
- 8large eggs
- 0.5 tspfine salt
- 2 tbspextra virgin olive oil
To serve
- 4 slicesof country bread, toasted and rubbed with tomato
Directions
- Clean the mushrooms dry, brushing the caps and trimming the tough thread-like stalks; carreroles are gathered in mountain pasture and hold grit but must never be soaked.
- Heat the oil and butter in a wide frying pan over high heat and add the mushrooms in one layer. Leave them alone 2 minutes until they squeak and start to colour.
- Keep the heat high and cook 5–6 minutes more, stirring, until the water they throw off has completely evaporated and the pan sizzles again rather than steams.
- Add the garlic and cook 30 seconds, until it smells sweet, then the parsley, salt and pepper. Tip two thirds onto a plate and keep the rest in the pan for the top.
- Beat the eggs with the half teaspoon of salt for no more than 20 seconds, just until the yolks and whites are combined but still streaky; over-beaten eggs set rubbery.
- Fold the reserved mushrooms through the eggs and let them stand 5 minutes so the flavour bleeds in.
- Wipe out a 24 cm non-stick or well-seasoned pan, add the 2 tbsp of oil and set over medium heat until it shimmers. Pour in the eggs.
- Draw the setting edges to the centre with a spatula for the first minute, then let it be for 2–3 minutes, until the underside is pale gold and the top is still glossy and loose.
- Slide it onto a plate, invert the pan over it, flip, and cook 1–2 minutes more. A Catalan truita is flat, not folded, and should stay creamy in the middle.
- Cut into wedges, scatter the reserved mushrooms over the top and serve warm with the tomato bread.
Technique
- Carreroles, the fairy ring mushroom, grow in rings in high Andorran meadows from late spring to autumn and dry beautifully; Pyrenean households string them up for winter. Never eat a foraged mushroom that has not been checked by someone who knows the species, as several deadly white-gilled mushrooms grow in the same grass.
- Cook the mushrooms hard and dry before they meet the eggs. Wet mushrooms weep into the omelette and give you a grey, watery truita that will not hold together.
- The omelette is finished off the heat by residual warmth, so pull it a shade before it looks done.
Substitutions
- Dried carreroles are excellent and often easier to find: soak 40 g in warm water 20 minutes, squeeze dry, and use the strained soaking liquid in a stew another day.
- Out of season, use a mixture of chanterelles, trompetes de la mort or field mushrooms; cook them longer, as they carry more water.
Variations
- Truita de rovellons, made with saffron milk caps, the great Catalan autumn version.
- Truita amb all i julivert, the plain garlic and parsley omelette eaten when no mushrooms are about.
- Served cold in a bread roll as an entrepa for walking in the mountains.
History
Autumn mushroom foraging is an Andorran custom; carreroles and rovellons picked in the valleys go straight into an omelette.
Frequently asked questions
What is Truites de carreroles?
Truites de carreroles is a main from Andorra: omelette of wild mushrooms gathered in Andorra’s high woods. Autumn mushroom foraging is an Andorran custom; carreroles and rovellons picked in the valleys go straight into an omelette.
How long does Truites de carreroles take to make?
Truites de carreroles takes 20 min of preparation and 20 min of cooking. The recipe makes 4 servings. It is rated easy to make.
What can I substitute in Truites de carreroles?
Yes, within limits. Dried carreroles are excellent and often easier to find: soak 40 g in warm water 20 minutes, squeeze dry, and use the strained soaking liquid in a stew another day. Out of season, use a mixture of chanterelles, trompetes de la mort or field mushrooms; cook them longer, as they carry more water.
What is the most important thing to get right in Truites de carreroles?
Clean the mushrooms dry, brushing the caps and trimming the tough thread-like stalks; carreroles are gathered in mountain pasture and hold grit but must never be soaked.
