Among the most beautiful villages in Italy is the Benevento town of Cusano Mutri. It appears as a nativity scene perched in the middle of a mountain landscape of the Regional Park of the Matese. Among its natural sites of inestimable beauty and pristine forests, the real jewel of the country's culinary tradition is born. We are talking about the cep mushroom. To this tasty and fragrant product of the earth, Cusano Mutri dedicates one of the most important festivals that lasts almost three weeks: La Mushroom Festival of Cusano Mutri.

The Mushroom Festival: traditional village festival

Between late September and early October, stands are set up in the heart of the medieval village of Cusano Mutri, exhibitions, events and excursions are organized, and its streets fill with folklore. For a full three weeks, in fact, comes the highly anticipated event Of the Cusano Mutri Mushroom Festival.

This year unfortunately it will not be held due to restrictions from Covid-19 but let's see how it is usually held.

True guest of honor is, of course, the porcini mushroom, which is prepared according to the recipes of the tradition cusanese in various exquisite ways that expertly enhance its goodness and strong flavor. The chefs will serve it accompanied by the wine Sannio, full-bodied and that goes well with mushroom dishes.

Concerts, performances and various shows enliven the squares and enliven the tastings. Art also finds its place. Art photographic exhibitions and shots of the Infiorata are displayed at the Town Hall. Orticelli Square, on the other hand, will be the site of an interesting exhibition where the Matese Mycological Association will present hypogeous and epigeal specimens, and you will have the opportunity to be guided on a mushroom search and collection excursion, discovering these wonderful local products. Trips and guided tours to churches and sites of historical and natural interest to the Pietraroja geopaleontological park and others are also organized. It will then be possible to visit the Civic Museum of the area. This is a unique opportunity not only to enjoy delicious mushroom dishes but also to learn about or explore the history and natural landscapes on which the greatness of this small mountain village is based.

The king of mushrooms: the Porcini Mushroom

Boletus edulis, commonly known as porcini mushroom, originates in the mountains of Cusano Mutri. Among oaks and chestnut trees, beeches and firs, it finds its perfect territory where it multiplies to the delight of the townspeople and visitors who have the opportunity to taste all its flavor during the not-to-be-missed Mushroom Festival. Called by many the king of mushrooms, the porcino has a callous flesh that becomes soft after cooking. It has a strong, decisive flavor and a smell that brings to mind the mountainous lands and unspoiled nature where it originates. It was the ancient Romans to call this mushroom "Suillus" (literally porcine), because of its stocky, massive appearance.

A porcini mushroom can reach a weight of more than two kilograms.

The most collected mushrooms 

From late spring until the end of autumn, in the vast forests of Cusano Mutri, so many species of mushrooms are collected, let's see the most common ones. Porcini mushrooms including boletus edulis and the highly prized boletus regius or royal cep, the so-called good ovolo (amanita caesarea), the chanterelle or chanterelle (cantharellus cibarius), the drumstick (macrolepiota procera), the spiny dogfish, also known as "virno"(calocybe gambosa), the meadowlark (agaricus campestris), the goldenrod, also known as the "cardarella"(hydnum repandum), the famille (armillaria tabescens), the mantiles or "titelle" (ramaria formosa), the russule (russula virescens) and the wasp (lycoperdon perlatum). These are among the most widely collected species in the generous Cusanese lands.

Mushrooms among legends and myths 

Since ancient times the mushrooms, because of their great variety, have stimulated the imagination of men. Protagonists not only of traditional and gourmet cuisine, but also of popular beliefs and legends passed down through the centuries.

We all know that there are many kinds of mushrooms: from edible ones to hallucinogenic ones, toxic ones and even lethal ones.

For the ancient Greeks, the mushroom was a divine symbol of life. This is because according to a Greek myth, the hero Perseus saved his life thanks to a mushroom. The story goes that he, after facing a long journey, tired and thirsty found inside the hat of a large mushroom, water that refreshed him from his labors. For this reason the hero decided to found at that very spot, the city of Mycenae (from the Greek mykés meaning precisely mushroom). He was thus also the founder of the Mycenaean civilization.

Even among the people of China, certain mushrooms were considered some of the most potent remedies in the Chinese pharmacopoeia. The Reisihi or Lingzhi mushroom, in fact, used for the preparation of liqueurs and herbal teas, boasts such exceptional nutrients that the Asian people called it: the "mushroom of immortality."

Among the Romans, however, the mushroom was especially prized as an edible product. Prized were the porcini mushrooms that grew under chestnut trees.

However, even the ancient Roman people knew well that some mushrooms were poisonous and could easily lead to the death. It is not difficult to think that Emperor Claudius, a glutton for mushrooms, was poisoned by his wife Agrippina, precisely with a dish of mushrooms that were not all edible.

The mythology of the Norse peoples says that from the red drool of Odin's steed, Sleipnir, the drops that fell turned into mushrooms.

During the Middle Ages, mushrooms were thought to be born in circles after a sabbath of witches or warlocks or a dancing night of gnomes and goblins.

Among the beliefs Finally, popular modern-day folklore dictates that if there is a curl on the stem of a porcini mushroom, there must surely be at least one other porcini mushroom in the immediate vicinity.