Shrooming sunday

Let's get one thing straight right away. My grandparents were crazy shroomers, my parents are crazy shroomers, even my brother is a crazy shroomer, I, on the other hand, am an occasional shroomer. If I feel like it ... if the weather is nice ... if I find the time I MIGHT go and get some.

I have almost zero knowledge when it comes to mushrooms. I only pick one type more or less and that is jurček/jurcek or as wiki names it Boletus edulis (English: penny bun, cep, porcino or porcini).

I also don't eat mushrooms, since I can't stomach them much and I kind of dislike the taste. We usually jar them, dry them, sell them or use them in risottos, eat them with eggs put them on pizza, use them as a spice, etc.

Shroom hunting here is taxed and we have a limit - 2kg per person for personal use only. But for people who hold mushroom picking as sacred and developed a sort of obsession, this isn't limiting.

I got up at 6 am and met my brother and his girlfriend at 7. The point is, of course, to beat everyone else to the hot spots. People here are quite friendly, they like to stop, chat you up, etc. BUT this rule does not apply in the forest. No. Shroomers have their own etiquette. The point is not to make eye contact, not to say hello, not to be loud, god forbid never look in the other's basket and the most important of all - be super mysterious and misleading. Shroomers are super territorial and dislike sharing their locations. In a way, they all know some break the law, either picking too much or picking in a forest that is not their own and without permission.

What often happens at first is ... you can't find any. I think the main issue is you are simply not used to see what you are looking for. And of course, everything is brown when you look down. Mushrooms are tricky like that, hiding under leafs and in tree stubs.

But the season was great here this year. Lots of rain helped, so even a blind chicken could find some.

We finished around 11 am and we managed to get exactly 6 kg of mushrooms. 2kg per person - 3 people. Isn't that nice! I like being so precise. If it looks like more than 6kg ... I assure you, it is just an illusion.

The last one - some random shrooms and things - cuz they looked nice.