Autumn's aromas - drying made easy
„Autumn's aromas" - drying aromatic mushrooms and fruits
With the beginning of autumn, mushrooms and seasonal fruits make their way onto the restaurant menu.
To preserve their quality and shelf life, it is advisable to dry them. This is the best and most effective way of preserving food, as it is done without chemicals. But to do it right, you should conside some things.
Drying mushrooms - what to take care of.
Basically, mushrooms do not need to be washed or soaked before drying! Just free them from mulch, sand and other impurities with a brush or knife and cut off the rotten or wormy parts. For larger dirt, you can wipe them with a damp cloth. Small mushrooms are best dried whole, as they shrink a lot during drying anyway. Larger mushrooms should be cut into even slices; use both the caps and the stems. Distribute the mushrooms evenly on the sieves of the food dehydrator so that they do not touch each other.
The ventilation and heating element plays the biggest role in the drying process. This pumps warm air that is evenly distributed along the walls of the appliance and dries the products inside.
If you have a dryer with more power, you will get a higher output. The drying time is about 6-15 hours and depends on the moisture content of the mushrooms themselves. It is best to start the process with a drying temperature of 30-40°C and gradually increase it. The optimum temperature is 75°C. It is important not to expose the mushrooms to too high a drying temperature immediately, otherwise a dry layer will form on the surface of the mushrooms, making it difficult for the water to evaporate from the inside. During the drying process, you can rearrange the following individual trays in alternate places to ensure that the mushrooms dry evenly. Well-dried mushrooms disintegrate easily in your fingers.
Food dehydrators can be used all year round and are ideal for fruit, vegetables, and even herbs.
During the autumn season, it is worth drying apples, plums or pears. Vegetable gourmets, on the other hand, can dry beetroot or sweet potatoes for healthy snacks à la chips.
Sunflower or pumpkin seeds, nuts, cranberries or rowan berries can also be dried in the food dehydrator.
It is worth using a dehydrators versatility to enrich your kitchen with healthy and natural delicacies.
Truffles - a real treat for gourmets
Truffles - commonly referred to as the "diamonds of gastronomy".
Their incredible aroma and taste captivate every connoisseur. There are many varieties, but not all are edible; they grow in different regions of the world, including Poland. However, the most popular ones in gastronomy come from France, Spain, and Italy.
Truffles are considered a culinary rarity. They ripen right next to the growing trees and absorb their flavours and fragrances from them. The truffles are taken out of the ground and specially trained dogs are used to collect them.
Unfortunately, not every gourmet can enjoy truffles. They are a premium product, which is reflected in the corresponding - see: very high, sometimes even prohibitive - price. In some cases, the price can be several thousand euros per kilogram of these exceptional mushrooms.
It is interesting to note that the record sum for the purchase of truffles was achieved at a charity auction, when a Chinese chef paid €100,000 for an exceptional specimen weighing 1170 g!
White truffles are only served raw, while black truffles can be cooked briefly.
It is important to add the truffles to the dish only at the final stage of preparation.
Truffles that are served raw can easily be cut into wafer-thin slices with a truffle mandolin, for example. This allows you to easily adjust the thickness of the slices with a screw: from 0.2 to 3 millimetres. Served in this way, the truffle goes perfectly with buttered tagliatelle with parmesan, for example.
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