Caesar’s mushroom

Oronge

What it is

The Romans called it boletus and reserved it for the emperors, which is where the name comes from; Suetonius reports that Claudius was killed by a dish of them, a death cap slipped in among the good. Both do emerge from a white egg-shaped veil in the same woods, and at that stage they are told apart only by cutting: the Caesar’s is yellow inside, the death cap white.

In the kitchen

Serve it raw: sliced thin with olive oil, lemon and parmesan is the standard Piedmontese and Provençal treatment, and cooking flattens the sweet chestnut flavour you are paying for. Buy it with the volva still attached — an oronge sold trimmed can no longer be verified.

Goes with

Olive oil Parmesan Lemon Celery Black pepper Hazelnut

In season alongside

Scorzonera Gilt-head bream Japanese tilefish (amadai) Saltwater conger (anago) Artichoke Avola almond

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