Garlic Mushrooms On Toast

Mushrooms on toast is one of life’s simple pleasures.

And, when you can make this simple pleasure even more of a treat by adding garlic and making it seasonal, it just brings out even more appreciation of mushrooms.

In November, we’re blessed with the growth of the meaty orange mushroom, çıntar (Saffron Milk Cap). And if you’re looking for unique texture and flavour for your seasonal mushrooms on toast, Autumn and çıntar will not disappoint.

While it sometimes gives us a bit of a shock reminder that another year has passed, the cycle of nature also has a certain reassuring quality, especially when it comes to buying fresh seasonal produce in Turkey.

Local

Bar freaks of weather, our favourite seasonal produce appears and disappears from the local markets pretty much as we expect it to.

And, at certain times of the year, we can look forward to that first sighting of our particular favourites.

November is one such month. For fruit lovers, pomegranates are in their prime and Rodos Kabağı (Chayote) make a brief appearance.

And, also at this time of year, the pine forests of the Fethiye region attract foragers hunting for çıntar (also known as lactarius deliciosus or the Saffron Milk Cap).

A first sighting of them on the Çalış Sunday Market or the Friday village market is such a treat!

We love cooking with and experimenting with this much-sought-after seasonal mushroom.

In the past, we’ve experimented with the çıntar mushroom by going Italian and making a spinach and mushroom risotto.

In Spain, the Saffron Milk Cap is paired with chorizo so we’ve done similar and paired çıntar and Turkish sucuk. with a rich tomato sauce, you get this fabulous Spanish-style mushroom dish.

And, continuing the spinach theme, we also did a more Turkish recipe for çintar mushroom and spinach böreği.

Breakfast or lunch?

All are perfect celebrations of this mushroom, and each season we want to experiment further. Here’s another çıntar mushroom recipe we came up with.

It’s a tasty weekend breakfast or light lunch: Seasonal garlic mushrooms on toast.

Is this the ultimate mushrooms on toast recipe?

Unless you’re a confident forager, it’s certainly no cheap and cheerful option. But it does take mushrooms on toast to a whole new level – from simple snack to indulgent treat.

A Recipe For Garlic Mushrooms On Toast

You’ll get two servings of mushrooms on toast using this recipe.

And don’t worry if you haven’t got Saffron Milk Caps. Use whatever mushrooms are in season for the time of year.

Before starting, wash your mushrooms, pat them dry with a clean towel (or kitchen paper) and then leave them to dry for a further 30 minutes or so.

Washing mushrooms is not a great thing to do as they’re really absorbent. If you’re using different mushrooms for your mushrooms on toast, you can just brush off any bits of dirt.

This is also the same for some of your çıntar. But a lot of them which you buy from the pazar are still damp from the pine forest floor and get lots of gritty earth trapped in their gills.

You need to get rid of this – the only crunch in this dish should be from your freshly toasted bread. Your mushrooms should have a meaty texture. And your creamy sauce will coat them perfectly.

A fresh crusty bread is best so that it holds the moisture of your creamy garlic sauce without making the toast too soggy.

And if you’re fortunate enough to be enjoying beautiful autumnal sunshine, as we are here in Fethiye, you can sit and savour the flavours of your seasonal mushrooms on toast while enjoying the outdoors.

Seasonal Garlic Mushrooms On Toast Recipe

Let’s make seasonal garlic mushrooms on toast!

And it’s up to you how far you want to take the richness of this dish. A light coating or a rich and creamy garlic mushrooms recipe.

And that’s how we make our creamy garlic mushrooms on toast.

(Although we have said in our recipe that our mushrooms on toast is an international dish, we have put the recipe with our other Turkish recipes as we have used local, seasonal Turkish ingredients. It will become more international if you use alternative mushrooms.)

Afiyet Olsun!

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