Mushrooms & Truffles

Rediscovering wild mushrooms

For a long time Canadians relied on wild berries, fruits, mushrooms and edible plants as an important element in their staple diet. This component of non-cultivated products has gradually diminished with the development of mechanized agriculture and urbanization. Many people today are simply unaware of the benefits and the flavours of some of these foods.

In recent years these natural products have become fashionable, and many small businesses began to harvest and package wild foods. OGourmet has decided to add a new line to its collection of fine products – wild foods, featuring more than 50 products from many small Canadian firms.

Dried mushrooms

Dried wild mushrooms receive special attention in this collection because they taste good. In fact, some of them are quite simply sublime! Secondly, because these wild products are easy to preserve, they are all offered in dried form. Place them for a few minutes in water, and they recover their size and taste. Not only that, but they are easy to use. Ordinary mushrooms can almost always be replaced with wild mushrooms to obtain exciting new flavours. We also offer a number of recipes to help you enjoy the exquisite taste of some of these mushrooms.

Wild mushrooms species offered

The species offered by OGourmet include: Black Morel (Morchella elata), Chanterelle (Cantharellus cibarius), Delicious Lactarius (Lactarius thyinos), Hedgehog Mushroom (Hydnum repandum), Honey Mushroom (Armillaria mellea), Horn of Plenty (Craterellus fallax), King Bolete (Boletus edulis), Lobster Mushroom (Hypomyces lactifluorum), Matsutake (Tricholoma matsutake), Pig's Ears (Gomphus clavatus), Pleurotus (Panellus serotinus), Swollen-Stalked Cat (Catathelasma ventricosa), Trumpet Chanterelle (Craterellus tubaeformis) and Woolly Chanterelle (Gomphrus floccosus).

All these wild mushrooms, well known by our ancestors but now exotic to us, are provided by Gaspésie Sauvage in Quebec.

Truffles

Truffles are wild underground mushrooms, whose birth and growth remain obscure. Truffles live in symbiosis with certain trees – oaks for the most part, but also chestnuts, hazel trees and beeches. Called the “black pearl” or “black diamond”, they are found in various areas, particularly central France, where they find shelter in oaks. Truffles are generally used as a condiment that is served with poultry, game, fish or even pies, foie gras, etc.

There are about thirty varieties of truffles, eight of them of culinary interest. The tastiest is without doubt the “Périgord truffle” (Tuber melanosporum). The Perigord truffle is a botanical name and is no guarantee of origin. It is cultivated in the south of France (45 % of world production), Spain (35 %) and Italy (20 %).

It has a powerful, unforgettable aroma, an intriguing mixture of mineral and animal odours. The Perigord truffle has an incomparable scent of underbrush, earth and humus, with a hint of dried fruit, and it has a fine, peppery taste. These exceptional organic qualities plus its relative scarcity make truffles one of the most expensive foodstuffs in the world. Fresh, they are sold at truffle markets for between $300 and $2000 per kilogram, depending on quality.

Other varieties of truffles on the market include the white truffle of Alba (Tuber magnatum), found especially in northern Italy (with prices sometimes exceeding $10,000 per kilo), the summer truffle (Tuber aestivum) and the Chinese truffle (Tuber sinensis). The latter resembles the Perigord truffle, but its flavour is much less intense (and the price is much lower).

Truffles offered by OGourmet

OGourmet offers of a good selection of truffles available as whole truffles or in pieces, in peels, or even in liquid form (truffle juice), as well as several other products flavoured with truffles (balsamic vinegar, olive oil, mustard, honey, foie gras, salt, etc.).

The truffles offered by OGourmet come from three different producers: J. Gaillard (France), Marini Azzolini Tartufi (Italy), T&C snc (Italy) and Truffières de Rabasse (France). Truffle-flavoured products come from a number of producers: Acetum (Italy), A. Viani Importe (Germany), Casina Rossa (Italy), Élevages Périgord (Quebec), Marini Azzolini Tartufi (Italy), T&C snc (Italy) and Truffières de Rabasse (France).

Mushrooms & Truffles at the best price possible

For all these benefits you pay no more than what you would pay in any gourmet store, if you choose to fill up your cart above the free shipping level.

Our pricing policy is simple. We offer prices on gourmet food products that are lower than those of competitors, with handling and shipping fees included. When you fill up your basket to the “free delivery” level, you'll pay less than what our competitors charge. Take advantage of this winning formula to add gourmet food products to your order so that you get free delivery.

Satisfaction guaranteed

At OGourmet, we are confident that the quality of our Mushrooms & Truffles will meet, if not exceed, your expectations. If you are not satisfied with the quality of the products received from OGourmet, we will refund or exchange them if returned within 7 days of receipt.