Choice
King bolete, porcini
Boletus edulis and the edulis group
The character that does the work
White unchanging pores and flesh, a barrel stem with a white net, and a brown cap. No blue bruising anywhere.
The specimen sheet, in examination order
01Cap
8 to 25 cm, biscuit to chestnut brown, smooth, slightly greasy when damp, with a fine pale line at the margin when young.
02Underside
A sponge of fine PORES rather than gills: white when young, turning yellow then olive with age. Does not bruise blue.
03Stem, and the base
Very stout, swollen or barrel-shaped, pale buff, with a fine raised white NETWORK over at least the upper part.
04Flesh, cut
White and unchanging when cut, firm in young specimens.
05Spore print
06Where it grows
With spruce, pine, oak and beech, from soil.
When to look
Typically Jul to Nov in the northern hemisphere. Fruiting swings by weeks with rainfall and by a month or more with latitude, so this is when to look rather than when it will be there.
Northern hemisphere, with a group of very similar species.
What is worth knowing about it
The great wild mushroom of European cooking, and mercifully forgiving: no bolete in North America is deadly, and the ones that cause trouble mostly announce themselves by bruising blue, having red or orange pore mouths, or tasting bitter enough to ruin a dish with one specimen. The bitter bolete is the usual disappointment, and a tiny taste on the tongue tip, spat out, is the traditional check.
Confused with
- Bitter bolete
- Devil's bolete
- Other Boletus species
In the kitchen
Young firm specimens are worth eating raw, sliced thin with oil and lemon. Everything else: slice and dry. Dried porcini are more intense than fresh, and the soaking water is stock. Check the sponge for larvae before you commit an entire pan.
The techniques, and why they workThis page tells you what to check. It does not tell you the mushroom in your hand is that species, and it cannot. If you are not certain, do not eat it. If you have already eaten something and feel unwell, contact a poison centre and keep an uncooked specimen.