Fungi di Monte – Renaissance Italian Mushrooms from Scappi (1570)

Fungi di Monte – Renaissance Mountain Mushrooms

“The Feast in the House of Levi” (detail), Paolo Veronese. Used here as period context for a Renaissance savory pie.

Sources: Bartolomeo Scappi, Opera dell’arte del cucinare, 1570 (Book II, cap. 193); Odile Redon, Françoise Sabban, Silvano Serventi, The Medieval Kitchen, 1998.

Mushrooms were a popular ingredient in Renaissance Italy, eaten in fast-day dishes and served alongside roasted meats. This recipe for Fungi di Monte (“mushrooms of the mountain”) comes to us from Bartolomeo Scappi’s monumental 1570 Opera. Redon adapts it into a clean, modern version while preserving its essential spicing and method.

Historic Recipe (Scappi, 1570)

Per cuocere funghi di monte in più modi. Dopo che saranno ben nettati, si cuociano in acqua calda, & si lascino scolare; poi si facciano soffriggere con cipolla trita, olio, sale, pepe, canella, garofali, & altre buone spetiarie. Si possono anco cuocere con burro fresco, & cacio parmigiano, & similmente si possono friggere in pastello.

Translation

To cook mountain mushrooms in several ways. After they are well cleaned, cook them in hot water and let them drain; then fry them with chopped onion, oil, salt, pepper, cinnamon, cloves, and other good spices. They may also be cooked with fresh butter and Parmesan cheese, and likewise they may be fried in batter.

Modern Adaptation (Redon, 1998)

• 1 pound wild or cultivated mushrooms
• 1 small onion, chopped
• Olive oil
• 1 pinch each pepper, ginger, and nutmeg
• 2 pinches ground coriander
• Salt to taste

1. Trim and clean the mushrooms. Cook in boiling water for about 10 minutes, then drain thoroughly.
2. Sweat the onion in olive oil until soft and golden.
3. Add mushrooms to the onions and sauté until browned.
4. Season with salt and spices, stir, and serve hot.

Comparison: Scappi vs. Redon

• Method: Both call for boiling then frying mushrooms with onion in oil.
• Spicing: Scappi specifies pepper, cinnamon, cloves, “other good spices.” Redon substitutes ginger, nutmeg, and coriander, reflecting Renaissance spice availability while making the flavor more accessible for modern cooks.
• Variants: Scappi also suggests mushrooms with butter and Parmesan, or fried in batter. Redon focuses only on the onion-and-oil method.
• Humoral Concern: Both retain the boil-then-sauté sequence to counter mushrooms’ “cold and moist” qualities.

🍄 Mushrooms Likely Used in Renaissance Italy

• Porcini / Cep (Boletus edulis) – the classic “pig mushroom,” highly prized.
• Chanterelle (Cantharellus cibarius) – golden, trumpet-shaped, gathered in forests.
• Morels (Morchella spp.) – valued spring mushrooms.
• Oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus) – wood-growing, sometimes cultivated.
• Field mushrooms (Agaricus campestris) – wild ancestor of modern button mushrooms.
• Shaggy ink cap (Coprinus comatus) – eaten fresh before dissolving.
• Russulas (Russula spp.) – various edible “brittlegills.”
• Honey fungus (Armillaria mellea) – eaten with caution, always cooked well.
• Truffles (Tuber spp.) – especially black truffles from central Italy.

🍽️ Modern Equivalents for Cooking

If you want to recreate Fungi di Monte today, these are the closest safe and accessible options:

• Porcini (fresh or dried)
• Chanterelles
• Morels
• Oyster mushrooms
• Button, cremini, or portobello (descendants of the field mushroom)

Humoral Notes

Mushrooms were classed as cold and moist in Galenic medicine. Period physicians warned they could upset the stomach unless corrected by warming spices. The inclusion of pepper, nutmeg, ginger, and coriander helps “dry and heat” the dish, balancing its humors and making it suitable for digestion.

Dietary Notes 🥕

• Vegetarian
• Vegan
• Gluten-Free
• Allergens: None (though spice sensitivities possible)

Menu Placement

Fungi di Monte is best placed in the roast course of a Renaissance Italian meal. Although the mushrooms are parboiled, they are ultimately sautéed and served dry, making them more a vegetable side than a pottage. In humoral terms, their cold and moist nature was balanced by warming spices, making them a fitting accompaniment to roasted meats in the second course.

📖 This recipe is part of the Ceilidh 2001 – Fourteenth-Century Italian Feast .
Explore all dishes from this reconstructed 14th-century Italian banquet.

Sources & Further Reading

• Bartolomeo Scappi, Opera dell’arte del cucinare (Venice, 1570), Book II, cap. 193.
• Castore Durante, Herbario Nuovo (Rome, 1585).
• Dioscorides, De Materia Medica (1st c. CE; widely circulated in Renaissance translations).
• Odile Redon, Françoise Sabban, Silvano Serventi, The Medieval Kitchen. University of Chicago Press, 1998.
• Maguelonne Toussaint-Samat, A History of Food. Blackwell, 1992.

Labels: Renaissance; Italian; Vegetables & Sides; Medieval Finger Food; Feast Planning; Period Techniques; Historical Reference