An edible fungus with a brown cap and pale underside, commonly found in European forests and prized in cooking; also called porcini or boletus.
From French cèpe, derived from Gascon cepe, possibly from Latin cibi or related to Basque zepak. The word spread through European languages as the culinary value of this mushroom became appreciated in medieval and early modern times.
The porcini mushroom (cep) is one of the few wild foods that became more expensive and prestigious over time—medieval peasants foraged them for free, but now a single dried cep can cost $5! It's a food that literally got fancier as people got richer.
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