Boletus Loyo

The porcini of the Southern Cone. An endemic Chilean mushroom that can weigh up to 5 kg.

“Boletus loyo” Illustration by Nicholas Gill.

Sometimes growing to the size of a human head, the loyo, the famed South American mushroom found from Chile’s central Andes in the Maule region, passing through Biobío, Araucanía and Los Ríos to the northern tip of Patagonia in Los Lagos. It is one of those rare flavors that lingers in my heart and brain far…