Mushrooms and Truffles belong to the same vegetable family (funghi); the main difference is that mushrooms grow on the surface, receiving their nourishment from the earth, whereas truffles grow underground, feeding themselves through the roots of trees. Mushrooms are unanimously considered a gastronomical treat. Whether they are added to fettuccine or risotti, broiled or sauteed or simply eaten as a salad, mushrooms have a definite role in cooking. Although it is true, they have very little to offer from a nutritious aspect. They are 80-90% water, the rest is mineral salts, potassium and iron. Therefore, we do not eat mushrooms for sustenance, but to please our palate. Although some types of mushrooms are good eaten alone, such as porcino and ovulo, others are better when added to food preparations, such as chiodino and gallinacci. Finally, others are better when prepared and conserved—sottolio or sottaceto, pleurotus or hothouse. There are many varieties of edible mushrooms in Italy which are concentrated in only a few regions. We will not attempt here to teach how to distinguish poisonous mushrooms from edible ones. It is better to buy a good guide which can teach you how to differentiate them. The best education, however, is to go mushroom hunting with an experienced, qualified person. Buying wild mushrooms from a green-grocer is perhaps the safest way to purchase them. Beware of amateur mycologists or friends who claim to know a great deal about mushrooms.

Amanita Caesarea
Ovolo Buono
Amanita Caesarea This is considered by the experts to be the best of all edible mushrooms. When they are still young, they are closed, look like an egg and are completely white. As they bud (open up), the hat becomes a bright orange-yellow. Ovoli may be eaten as a salad, seasoned with virgin olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Once mature, they can be fried (with or without batter), grilled, sauteed or braised.
Armillaria Mellea
Chiodini
Armillaria Mellea These are tiny, dark mushrooms, with small heads and long thin stems. It is a mushroom easily found and grown in large spreads. They can be cooked like porcini mushrooms and, in addition, they can be preserved in oil. It is preferable to dispense with the lower half of the stem, which tends to taste woody.
Boletus Brisa
Porcini
Boletus Brisa This well-known variety grows mainly in the Appenino Emiliano around Parma in Valtellina. in the Appennino Toscano (particularly the Garfagnana), Piemonte hills, Sila and Pollina in Calabria, but they can also be found in other mountain areas. There are several different types and qualities of porcini mushrooms. The best are the porcini picked in chestnut woods. They have a light-colored hat and a butter-white underhat. Porcini with dark hats are from the beech or fir tree and are more suitable to be preserved, but are less tasty. As the mushroom gets older, its underhat turns ocher or green. The hat must be big, round, fleshy and must be supported by a short round stalk. Porcini can be eaten as a salad or can be braised, cooked in a sauce, grilled, sauteed or baked. They are also preserved in oil or dried for winter or commercial consumption

Cantharellus Cibarius
Gallinacci
Cantharellus Cibarius These are yellow mushrooms whose fragrance recalls the odor of a peach. The old ones must be dispensed with because their flesh is too fibrous and tough. They are cooked in sauces or preserved in oil. They are also known as finferli.
Hothouse Mushrooms
Funghi coltivati
Hothouse Mushrooms These mushrooms do not grow spontaneously, but are the hothousegrown version of several varieties of mushrooms (e.g. prataioli, ceppatelli, pleurotus, and others). They can be eaten raw, cut in thin slices and seasoned with oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. All of them may be cooked in various sauces.
Pleurotus Ostreatus
Ceppatelli
Pleurotus Ostreatus These mushrooms grow at the base of trees (rather than on the ground); that is why they are sometimes called ceppatelli (literally "little stumps"). They are light grey in color, have a large top and a very short stem. They are either breaded or simply fried.
Psalliota Arvensis
Prataiolo
Psalliota Arvensis This mushroom is white and meaty with a pleasant aroma. They are excellent in the kitchen for many preparations. They are found in open fields and are light-pinkish in color. Prataiolo is the classic mushroom used to prepare trifolato.
Truffles
Tartufi
Truffles Italy is plentiful in truffles. The two most prized varieties are the white truffles from Alba (Piemonte) and Aqualagna (Marche) and the black ones from Norcia (Umbria). The white truffles are in season from October to December and have more flavor and a much more pronounced fragrance than the black ones. To find truffles trained dogs or pigs are used to sniff out the prized tuber; it is then snatched away before the animal can devour it. White truffles are almost always eaten raw; when cut in very fine slices, they can be either used to top preparations that have already been cooked, such as fettuccine, risotti, scaloppine, end fondute, or simply seasoned with olive oil, salt and pepper. Truffles should be consumed within a week of picking and are best kept wrapped in paper towels or in a closed jar with raw rice, which should afterwards be used to make risotto.
White Truffles
Tartufo Bianco
White Truffles The most prized white truffle of Alba (Piemonte) ripens from October to December. Its main characteristics are deep aroma and flavor. Its yellow/green skin is smooth, and its inside, whose color can vary from brown to hazel, is hard. It is also furrowed by thin white veins. Quite popular now are also the white truffles from Acqualagna, a small town near Urbino (Marche), whose woods generate a large number of white truffles, very comparable to those from Alba. Black truffles from Norcia have a delicate aroma and taste. They ripen from November to mid-March. The skin is black, thinly wrinkled, and the color of the pulp is a purplish-black. Black truffles are generally cooked and seldom eaten raw.