Fungi in Bulgaria....Гъбите от Гората - Лоша или Добра

[Maggi Young]

Yes, Olga, the yellow Trumpet chanterelles like in Stephen's market picture .

[Hans J]

Olga

please look here ( my wife is just back from wood ):
thats true Cantharellus cibarius
typical is the underside
it exist also a other similar funfi which is more red - but it is also edible

Maggi

I must eat in this time every day fungi ( Cantharellus) ....a luxury problem 

[mark smyth]

Is there any reason fungi are collected much more in Europe than the UK and possibly Ireland?

[Stephenb]

Is there any reason fungi are collected much more in Europe than the UK and possibly Ireland?

Fear! In the UK, undoubtedly Raymond Briggs' novel "Fungus the Bogeyman" - at least over the last 30 years since it came out, negating the encouragement given in Richard Mabey's "Food for Free" which came out just before.

There has been an increasing interest in wild edible mushrooms here in Norway in particular over these last 30-years. This has been driven by the fact that we have a national society "Sopp og Nyttevekstforbund" (Fungus and Useful Plant Society) devoted to wild edibles (now over 100 years old). In the late 70s a number of local groups sprung up here and they have been instrumental in arranging edible mushroom courses locally. As someone else mentioned (Hans?) we also have a network of "control locations" where people can have their harvest checked over by experts. "Experts" are often private people who have taken a course and exam organised by the society, qualifying them as "fungi controllers".

[Stephenb]

A few more pictures from Stockholm's Hötorget mushroom market, for fans of cobbles and sellers:

[mark smyth]

I have the book 'Food for Free' and 'Wild Food' but have never got round to eating anything

[Lesley Cox]

These are super pictures Stephen, thanks for posting them. I'm pleased to see the Market also has kiwifruit.

[Lesley Cox]

I have a very beautiful book called "Edible and Poisonous Mushrooms, An Introduction" by Ian Hall, Peter K. Buchanan, Wang Yun and Anthony L.J. Cole. It is about species commonly found in New Zealand and Australia and has outstanding illustrations. It is published here in Dunedin in 1998 and if you can find a copy somewhere Mark, is well worth the reading. Ian Hall was responsible for introducing the Perigord black truffle to NZ as a commercial crop and is currently working on other species.
The book contains a lot of material about identification, including keys, and separates what is edible from what isn't. Many such as chantarelle, boletus are found here but almost never collected and eaten so far as I know. The "experts" are few and far between. Luckily, Ian Hall lives locally.

[Lesley Cox]

With regard to Stephen's pictures above, I am reminded that somewhere I read that the Perigord black truffle is harvested in much smaller quantities in France now, than it used to be. Like fisheries when over fished, it seems to have been over collected. Looking at the chantarelles above I wondered if the same thing will happen in the areas where these are collected. My untested theory is (remembering that I know NOTHING about fungi) that with so many collected, fewer are left at the end of the season to release spores so fewer will become established on the necessary root associations and so fewer will become fruiting bodies for eventuial collection. Any comments please?

[Hristo]

Hi Hans,
As far as I know there are no problems with radioactivity in the fungi here.
The locals are well aware of problems that effect their food and I think
would not touch the fungi if there was a problem......

Yes there are deaths here and I have heard stories of Bulgarians having their
fungi confiscated if they are collecting outside of their obshtina on the grounds
that, they might have made a mistake.If they die this would reflect badly
on the obshtina they collected the fungi from!

[Hans J]

Hi Chris ,

fungi can store radioactivity for a very long time .....so we look always from where the funghi came !
I think there is no problem with touch the fungi !

A friend who has a very big knowledge about fungi told me the only really healthy on collecting fungi is to be outside in the nature and movement .....

[Hristo]

Hey Hans,
Fungi from our area are exported to Canada and Italy so I would imagine that they should be radioactive free.....

[Rodger Whitlock]

For those curious about such things, a book to look for: "Poisonous and Hallucinogenic Mushrooms" by Richard and Karen Haard. The emphasis is on fungi native to the Pacific NW, not those of eastern Europe, so how much help it will be for you, Chris, I don't know.

It's a little handbook sized for carrying with you in the field.

[Hristo]

A handy sounding book Rodger, I may stick to the fungi that local tradition suggests won't kill me ( or send me off into the sky with young girls and expensive stones! )
Do you go out a collecting Rodger?

[cohan]

Is there any reason fungi are collected much more in Europe than the UK and possibly Ireland?

Fear! In the UK, undoubtedly Raymond Briggs' novel "Fungus the Bogeyman" - at least over the last 30 years since it came out, negating the encouragement given in Richard Mabey's "Food for Free" which came out just before.

There has been an increasing interest in wild edible mushrooms here in Norway in particular over these last 30-years. This has been driven by the fact that we have a national society "Sopp og Nyttevekstforbund" (Fungus and Useful Plant Society) devoted to wild edibles (now over 100 years old). In the late 70s a number of local groups sprung up here and they have been instrumental in arranging edible mushroom courses locally. As someone else mentioned (Hans?) we also have a network of "control locations" where people can have their harvest checked over by experts. "Experts" are often private people who have taken a course and exam organised by the society, qualifying them as "fungi controllers".

there doesnt seem to be much use of wild food here, either--in fact, i grew up being told that many berries were poisonous which i later learned are edible---even if not all that exciting; of course, i think there was an issue there with kids running around in the bush eating anything they see--some of which is poisononous..

i think my latvian grandfather retained some old country habits--they used to eat a few mushrooms (my mother didnt like them, so none in our house) and i remember occasional trips into the foothills forests west of here to gather blueberries..

i think if you were collecting mushrooms here you'd have some difficulty finding experts to assess them...