Dry weather turns Salzburg chanterelles into a luxury

Chanterelles have become scarce and more expensive in Salzburg this year after heat and drought severely reduced growth and shortened the mushroom season, ORF reported.

At the Schranne, Salzburg’s largest weekly market, traders were charging between 25 and 31 euros per kilogram on Thursday, with prices up by as much as a third compared with previous years.

“We are already in the late season, and the hope of a major flush of mushrooms has unfortunately not been fulfilled,” stallholder Marcel Muttenthaler said. He expects the season to end completely within two to three weeks.

The quantity of chanterelles varied between the Pinzgau, Pongau and Lungau areas over the summer. Overall, however, Salzburg produced significantly fewer than usual, pushing up prices as supplies fell. Muttenthaler said his average price had previously been about 20 to 25 euros per kilogram, compared with around 27 to 28 euros this year.

Porcini mushrooms have grown better. They were less affected by the drought, partly because they appear later in the season. “In recent years there were always relatively few mushrooms, but this year, for the first time in a while, there are more, now for the fifth week in a row,” said Lungau stallholder Philip Wind.

The chanterelle season is now drawing to a close, and the mushrooms are expected to disappear from the Schranne by mid-October at the latest.