Buckwheat with Mushrooms

Grechka, buckwheat, is the everyday starch of the Russian table, as fundamental as rice is to the Chinese or potato to the German. It has been cultivated in Russia since the medieval period, its short growing season suiting the northern climate. The most common preparation is simply boiling it in water until the grains open and soften, then eating with butter. The mushroom version, grechka s gribami, elevates this staple: wild mushrooms (porcini, chanterelle or whatever the forest provides) are sauteed with onion and folded into the cooked buckwheat with plenty of butter. It is autumn food, made when Russians go to the forest to forage, and it is eaten as a side with meat or on its own as a light meal.

Nutty, earthy buckwheat grains folded with deeply savoury wild mushrooms and sweet onion, rich with butter. Each forkful tastes of the forest floor, hearty and grounding.

The technique is two separate preparations joined. Buckwheat is rinsed and toasted dry in a pan until fragrant, then boiled in water (2 parts water to 1 part buckwheat) for 15 minutes until the grains open and the water is absorbed. Separately, mushrooms and onion are fried in butter until golden and their moisture has evaporated. The two are folded together with more butter, seasoned with salt and pepper. The dry-toasting of the buckwheat before boiling is a Russian technique that improves the flavour and keeps the grains separate, not mushy. The mushrooms must be cooked until their moisture is gone, or the dish becomes watery.