The Borgotaro Mushroom PGI grows in the woods of Borgo Val di Taro and Albareto in the province of Parma, and in those of Pontremoli, in the Tuscan province of Massa-Carrara.
Its name does not actually identify just one species of mushroom, but four: Boletus aestivalis (or red mushroom), Boletus pinicola (or black mushroom), Boletus aereus (magnan) and Boletus edulis, known to all as porcino.
In nature, they grow spontaneously in the woods made up of certain species of trees: on the one hand, broad-leaved trees such as beech, chestnut, turkey oak and other oak species, hornbeam, aspen and hazel; on the other, conifers such as white and red fir, black and Scots pine and Douglas fir.
The mushrooms of Borgotaro were already being sold in the 17th century, as is testified by the "Istoria di Borgo Val di Taro" by the canon Alberto Clemente Cassio; today Borgotaro carries on the mushroom tradition also through a dedicated fair, the Fiera del Fungo di Borgotaro.
In the kitchen
Dried, frozen or in oil, mushrooms lend themselves to many interpretations, all of them tasty.
In the local tradition, we find mushrooms trifoliated, mushroom-based sauces for first courses, or even raw mushrooms in salads and as a condiment for second courses.
