The big star of the season, alas, is so scarce it�s on the verge of disappearing from mycologists� baskets: amanita caesarea, or Caesar�s mushroom. It is the most expensive and smallest, and also known as the egg mushroom. With it you can prepare them in many ways: salads, carpaccios, scrambled egg dishes, roasted and even saut�ed. Whatever comes to mind. But these mushrooms need something bold to go with, such as loin of venison in a bread crust, served with mustard, for example.

Another delicacy is the sweetbread mushroom. Its floury touch lets you prepare it fried or grilled, with meat, rabbit, seafood or whatever tickles your fancy. But you must also try them with eggs cocotte-style and a dab of caviar.

Then there are the boletes. There are three edible varieties, but any of them is good saut�ed with hake or snapper. They are also good with huachinango, a Caribbean fish that is new to Spain, flamb�ed with a bit of brandy. This mushroom can even be served all by themselves on special occasions.

The saffron milk cap is another mushroom that is vanishing from the Spanish countryside. Some like them large, others button-size. Some like them saut�ed with garlic and parsley, others with stewed potatoes.�There is also debate over whether they are tastiest when firm or if the best way to eat them is roasted, then thin-sliced with bits of ham, a dash of sherry, and a touch of parsley and thyme.

One of the most exquisite mushrooms is the king oyster mushroom. It can be served in lukewarm salads, grilled, saut�ed or with scrambled eggs, always with a good, dry white wine. And if you want to make a good dish for winter, the kind that make it hard to get up from the table afterward, try them in marmitako made from monkfish, with lots of potatoes.

As for the Rickstone Funnel-Cap, soak it in oil. The flavor it adds to fish or game dishes are worthy of the best chefs. Pheasant cooked with grapes or wine need these mushrooms to make it not just great but excellent. Another delicious way to cook them is with scrambled, free-range eggs, covered with a thin strip of cured venison.

Many of mushroom species that grow in Spain have been left off this brief list. They include the hedgehog, chantarelle, bot�n de oro, fairy ring, golden chantarelle, pardina, charcoal burner and wood blewit.

When gathering mushrooms it is important to cut them rather than pull them so as not to bring earth along with them.

When buying them in the market, make sure they are not so moist as to be spongy. This makes them bigger, but they lose quality.

When cleaning them at home, if the mushroom is big do it with a damp cloth. If they are smaller, a quick wash under the faucet is enough. Later squeeze them a bit to get rid of the excess water.

Never cook a mushroom for more than five minutes. It is better for it to be al dente than mushy.

If you add them to a dish, do it at the end of the cooking, after saut�eing the mushrooms to bring out all their flavor. In the case of a salad, dice them up at the last minute.

Now, with all this advice in hand, all you have to do is put on your apron and start cooking up delicious mushroom dishes, which are ideal for the cold weather.