Today in El Nacional, we present the first in a series of traditional Catalan recipes. Chef Oscar Manresa shows us a very simple recipe to get started with Catalan cuisine: soft-boiled egg with mushrooms. Now the season is here, going out to collect bolets (mushrooms) is a traditional Catalan family activity, and this recipe offers a great way to savour the great variety available.
The rovelló "bloody milk cap" mushroom is highly prized in Catalan and Provençal cooking. It grows in pine forests, in all types of soil. They are very common in Catalonia, found from the coast up to the Pyrenees from the end of summer to the arrival of the first winter frosts.
The egg is a marvellous ingredient, also very important in Catalan cuisine, one of the most complete foods that exists. It contains all essential nutrients and proteins of high biological value as well as a great quantity of vitamins and minerals. It also offers the cook a whole host of options when choosing how to cook it. Today we're going for soft-boiling leaving a liquid yoke to ooze over our seasonal mushrooms for an amazing dish. Just don't forget a good slice of bread to soak up all those juices.
Ingredients:
- 400g/14oz of mixed mushrooms
- Small handful of finely-sliced onion
- 4 eggs
- Water
- Oil
- A splash of brandy
- Salt
- Pepper
Recipe (mushrooms):
- Wash the mushrooms carefully, halving or quartering the larger ones
- Heat a splash of olive oil in a frying pan and add the onion
- Add the mushroom and season with salt and pepper
- Add the brandy and flame the alcohol off
Recipe (egg):
- Boil a large pan of water
- Add a generous pinch of salt and the eggs in their shells
- Cook the eggs for 5 minutes to keep the yolks soft
- Take them out of their shells and plate them on the mushrooms