FOOD
22-10-2019 by redazione
Global climate changes, which also affect Kenya in part, have both positive and negative effects on the fertile land of the African equator.
One of these, given the increasingly close temporal and climatic link between the heavy rains, between May and July, and the small rains of October and November, is the presence of edible fungi on Kenyan territory.
This year the rains have never really stopped, despite the sunny days of August and September and the drought in the north of the country. The forests and coastal vegetation have been affected in a beneficial way by the humidity and has increased, as in the Italian autumn, the trade in mushrooms.
Even in Kenya, in fact, there are good and edible ones, some even rare and precious.
They may not be as precious and fragrant as porcini mushrooms, but they have a pleasant texture and good taste similar to some of the varieties that we can find in our country.
Chanterelles, chanterelles, nails and champignons abound in the forests of Kenya, and can also be found, for example, in the Arabuko Sokoke Forest near Watamu.
In the boutique at the entrance to the forest there are sometimes similar chalets that don't really know much, but they are not to be ignored for a risotto.
From Naivasha come good champignons, excellent to make sautéed, trifolati or fried.
But the most prized and truly special one comes from the Rift Valley, in the lands of the Luhya.
It is the obukufuma, a mushroom that the local population has always picked up and cooked, after having dried and smoked it, and that the International Slow Food Foundation wants to protect, along with other rare resources of this wonderful land.
When dried, it vaguely resembles a porcine, with a greyish crown and white stem, which can reach a height of up to 40 centimeters (the chapel can even be 30 in diameter). The luhya are used to smoke it because it can last up to six months, and use it to flavor soups or to mix it with corn or beans.
Obukufuma is harvested during the morning hours in the Epanga Valley and generally in the woods of Vihiga County, in north-western Kenya.
Obukufuma also has an important meaning for the local community.
Those who find mushrooms are considered a virtuous and lucky man, those who dream of them but do not find them instead may have problems in the family.
Obukufuma mushrooms grow naturally on fertile land and are harvested both for sale and for domestic consumption, but are increasingly rare because of civilization and fertilizers used near forests.
For those who want to try something that looks like a good European chapel, there are the "Portobella", a variety of mushrooms from the Rwandan forest. Those that the gorillas don't crush, come to impose themselves on
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Autumn, mushroom time.
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But also in Kenya there are good and edible mushrooms, some of them rare and precious.
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