Amyco Champignons Sauvages

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Tomiko and I discovered Amyco Champignons Sauvages when we spied a small, hand-painted, mushroom-shaped wooden sign on the side of the road just off La Route des Saveurs de Charlevoix. The shop was really just a curtained off room in the back of a family’s house where foraged products were available for sale. The small boutique offered both dried and fresh mushrooms, as well as various other forest products like honey, chaga, and Labrador tea. Amyco Champignons Sauvages offers different mushrooms depending on the season, including Pfefferlinge, matsutake, morel, trumpet, lobster, and the King of the Mushrooms – the cèpe.

Tomiko and I bought a small bag of fresh orange Pfefferlinge (chanterelles). We used to eat these all the time in Germany, and once we even went foraging for them in our uncle’s patch of forest!

Above is a fat and juicy cèpe, also known as the porcini mushroom. I had read about these mushrooms in A Kitchen in France by Mimi Thorisson, but Tomiko and I debated whether or not to shell out $5.00 for a small bag of them. We knew we loved Pfefferlinge, but we were wary of the cèpes. I’m glad we bought both! Tomiko and I cooked up the cèpes in a bit of butter and we were amazed at the flavour and texture: they tasted like and had the texture of roast pork belly! Meltingly fatty and savoury, now I realize what all the fuss is about! We don’t know if this is actually true, but the name ‘porcini’ sounds like ‘pork’ in English; maybe that’s a clue as to how the mushroom tastes? Any time I see them for sale in Toronto, I will pounce!

In addition to the fresh cèpes and Pfefferlinge, Tomiko and I bought a jar of honey; small bags of dried cèpes, Pfefferlinge, and lobster mushrooms; and a mushroom flavouring powder made from six types of dried wild mushrooms ground up with salt. It would be great sprinkled on eggs, meat, cooked vegetables, soups, or salad.

If the amazing fresh mushrooms weren’t enough, Amycos Champignons Sauvages also offers guided excursions where you can forage for wild mushrooms yourself for the affordable price of $45 per adult. If Tomiko and I had more time in the Charlevoix region, we would totally have signed up for one of these three-hour expeditions!

Visit Amycos Champignons Sauvages:

166 St-Fidèle, La Malbaie (Qc), G5A 2L1

(418) 490-0223