By Leszek Chudzinski
In summer and fall the forests in Poland come alive with people; young and old are united by a lofty goal to find wild mushrooms, a prized commodity since time immemorial. Mushroom foraging in Poland is not only a pastime but, particularly in the countryside, it’s a way of life. Mushrooms are cooked, fried, marinated and stored in jars, dried, froze or salted (rather rare today). There is hardly a house that does not have a couple of pounds of dried mushrooms in a pantry to enhance the flavor of meat dishes, soups, or to make a fabulous mushroom sauce. Poles could die for pierogis with mushrooms or a delish mushroom sauerkraut dish.
No wonder mushrooms in Poland have inspired not only folk artists but also some of the most prominent Polish poets that found mushrooms an irresistible subject; Adam Mickiewicz, Maria Konopnicka, Jan Brzechwa, to name a few. Probably the best known is Mickiewicz’s passage from a Polish epic, Master Thaddeus,
“Everyone is hunting for a milky cap; this one is more modest in height
And less famous in songs, but it is the tastiest,” (…)
„Wszyscy dybią na rydza; ten wzrostem skromniejszy
I mniej sławny w piosenkach, za to najsmaczniejszy,” (…)1
Polish folklore* is rich in mushroom wisdom and superstitions have been passed on from one generation to another. Most beliefs originated from experience and observations but also from hearsay as means of ensuring the gathered mushrooms were safe to eat.
Let’s look at a few of the old mushroom beliefs.2 Once a mushroom is seen (or touched), it must be picked for otherwise it will stop growing (not true). Poisonous mushrooms taste bitter (not always true: some amanitas have sweet or nutty taste while a bitter boletus is indeed very bitter); gilled mushrooms that stain upon touching are inedible (not always true: not only mushrooms that stain upon touching are edible, e.g., a delicious milky cap (rydz)3 that stains green; while poisonous mushrooms, e.g., amanitas, do not always stain upon touching); all young mushrooms are edible (this is not only false but an outright dangerous belief for at a young stage it’s almost impossible to distinguish between edible and poisonous mushrooms. e.g., man on horseback or meadow mushrooms and death cap (Amanita phalloides)4; poisonous mushrooms are never infested with worms (not true: many insects and worms are immune to amatoxins).
It’s absolutely flabbergasting that these beliefs and misconceptions were relied on to make sure a tasty mushroom dish would not have serious consequences. Fortunately, today in place of hearsay and old beliefs there’s ample help in finding the mushrooms and in making sure our wild mushrooms foraging will be a safe adventure.
As the old folk used to say, mushrooms are best picked in the morning after rain or at night, or in the fog, when the forest floor smells of mycelium. I’m not sure about picking mushrooms at night but in order to grow, mushrooms need moisture and right temperature; too hot and they will sizzle, too cold, they won’t grow.
Since mushrooms are symbiotic, certain species grow in the presence of certain trees, e.g., boletus edulis can be found in birch, oak, beech, and coniferous forests, including pine, fir, spruce and hemlock (sometimes also under cedars but they will acquire a bitter taste). Morels abound in apple orchards; they can also be found under maple trees and in pine forests, especially in the in previous-year’s burns, now an annual occurrence in the Pacific Northwest. Slippery jacks, chantarelles, velvet boletus, love conifers; birch forest will support king and birch boletus, including brown birch bolete and one of the largest edible mushrooms – an orange birch bolete, known in Poland as krawiec (tailor) or kowal (smith), depending on region. And yes, King Boletus is often found in proximity with Amanita muscaria (a fly killer, muchomor czerwony); while the former has been choice and used to grace king’s and farmer’s tables alike, the beautiful amanita in the past was fried with sugar to control flies in country homes.
Mushroom Kingdom is vast and still little understood. To better realize the rich world of mushrooms, please refer to the website of Mycologia Lucerne, a Swiss publisher of the most comprehensive mushroom multi-volume guides for just a small country of Switzerland. http://tinyurl.com/2zfs62f6
Some people are allergic to certain types of mushrooms. It’s been proved that man on horseback5 (gąska zielona, zielonka) and Verpa bohemica (naparstniczka czeska) 6, known as early false morel, might cause an adverse reaction so instead of becoming my own ginny pig, I simply stay away from these two species. Paxillus involutus7 (olszówka)8, also known as the brown roll-rim or the common roll-rim, a mushroom once popular and widely collected in Poland has recently been labeled as poisonous for it can cause a mild or serious poisoning that could require medical help. Besides, man on horseback, particularly in the young stage, can be easily confused with death cap–a reason in itself to stay away from this late-fall mushroom.
Mushrooms in America could be very expensive so a successful mushroom hunt will go a long way. A pound of young boletes in Seattle goes for 40 or 50 dollars, depending on a season. A kilogram of dried boletes in a Polish store goes for 1,000 dollars. Chantarelles and lobster mushrooms could cost anywhere from 15 to 30 dollars a pound, while matsutake mushrooms, depending on mushrooms condition and stage, are priced from 50 to 150 dollars per pound, to be exported to Japan and China where they are sold for thousands of dollars.
Today’s mushroom hunters are helped by a proliferation of mushroom sources. Internet provides an easy access to plethora of information but a word of caution is in order: one cannot (and shouldn’t) learn wild mushrooms from a picture or a movie posted on social media. To master this art, one should gain first-hand knowledge and go foraging with a person knowledgeable in this matter.
Enter Mycological Society of America that offers educational studies and courses in mycology. But for my money, I’d rather join a local chapter of a mycological organization to have easy access to mushrooms experts and make a few friends in the process. What’s more, many local chapters organize mushroom shows and forays, having an expert on board. So, Puget Sound Mycological Society is my backyard friend. https://www.psms.org/. The burgers of The Three-River City can join the Western Pennsylvania Mushroom Club https://wpamushroomclub.org/ or choose one from several such organizations in Pennsylvania.
Happy hunting!
King Boletus9
King Boletus got new shoes,
Left or right, how can he choose?
He looks left and he looks right,
With one leg that’s quite a plight.
He tries one and then another,
With one leg that’s quite a bother;
Left looks left and right looks right,
With one leg that quite a plight.
The King’s leg is two by four,
Mushrooms couldn’t ask for more;
Shoes are seven and a half,
Which shoe would King rather have?
Finally, King comes to his mind,
Shoes aren’t for one-legged kind;
He pulls the shoe off his foot
And is walking home barefoot.
- Adam Mickiewicz, Pan Tadeusz
- file:///C:/Users/Leszek/Downloads/Ludowe_zwyczaje_zwi%C4%85zane_z_grzybami.pdf
- Milky cap has a distinguished nutty flavor that sets it apart from other edible species but it’s very brittle and care must be taken not to damage it while picking and transporting.
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanita_phalloides
- http://nittygrits.org/man_on_horseback_mushroom
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verpa_bohemica
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paxillus_involutus
- https://zdrowie.gazeta.pl/Zdrowie/7,101460,23692582,olszowka-grzyb-czy-to-gatunek-trujacy-jak-go-rozpoznac.html
- A poem by Leszek Chudziński
