5 ms·

‘I Have Never Seen So Many Toadstools.’ A Bumper Crop of Mushrooms in Ukraine

33 points by Thevet 6y ago

hourislate 6y ago
During my travels through Eastern Europe in the late 70's, I was able to go to Ukraine through Poland by train (quite the adventure). As it would happen, I fondly remember eating a large bowl of wild Mushrooms in a village (Ternopil Oblast)and asking the host if it was safe. Everyone laughed nervously and kept eating. Good times....good times.....
- unsigner 6y ago
  Just last year a distant-friend family, elderly husband and wife, died after eating what they had picked, after a lifetime of picking mushrooms; their son got away with weeks in the hospital and some organ damage. The danger is real. (Southeast Europe; they say the poisonous species are fewer and less poisonous the further north you go.)
  - jelliclesfarm 6y ago
    In France, most pharmacists have the knowledge to ID toxic vs edible mushrooms. After foraging, people can take baskets of mushrooms to the pharamacy window and they will sort it out for you.
    - unsigner 6y ago
      It is widely believed around here that one toxic mushroom is reason enough to throw away the entire basket.
  - unhammer 6y ago
    Weeell, there may be fewer, but the poisonous ones are also different (there have been reports of tourists from Southern Europe coming to Norway and picking the wrong things)
- pmoriarty 6y ago
  I remember reading of a mushroom expert who wound up needing a new liver because he misidentified some mushrooms. If it can happen to the experts it can happen to me, so I generally steer clear of wild mushrooms. However, if you are going to eat wild mushrooms, it's better to trust the experts than the non-experts, who get poisoned much more frequently.
Scoundreller 6y ago
I’m impressed the forager took the reporter along anywhere. Probably not to their best/known spots. A good forager will leave on their scooter and come back an hour or two later with a bucket or two. But they will never tell anyone where they went. Not their mother, not their father, not their siblings. Maybe their children if they’re about to die. Maybe.
- jdrobertso 6y ago
  My dad used to take me mushroom hunting for morels here in the US when I was a kid, and this is actually the truth. He would take me on the weekends to the more public spots, and when he didn't have me during the week because I was staying with my mom, he would go to his best spots and I'd come back the next weekend to him having giant bags full of mushrooms. He died when I was 13 and I know literally 0 of his best mushroom hunting spots.
  - pixl97 6y ago
    Man, I'd love a bag of fresh morels right about now. I used to live where they were common, but no longer do. Nothing better than fresh mushrooms.
    - trianglem 6y ago
      I have 200 tulip poplars on my property. I have a morel bonanza once a year!
    - jelliclesfarm 6y ago
      How do you cook them?
      - jdrobertso 6y ago
        It's been years since I've had them, but we always just put a light coating of flour on them and fried them in a pan. Add a little salt and pepper or some paprika and they were delicious.
jelliclesfarm 6y ago
[..]When asked for advice on locations, the etiquette for a polite Ukrainian mushroom hunter is to describe some phony spots, so as not to appear rude, while in fact never revealing where the mushrooms really are. Ukrainians who have taken to tagging spots on Google maps are seen as spoilers of this tradition.[..] this is so true! and true everywhere! The Mushroom Hunters by Langdon is a fascinating account of how mushroom buyers operate in the pacific northwest, but they go all the way to montana and to the mid west for morels. there are many buyers who set up buy stations and the harvesters are seasonal..often south east asians..vietnamese and cambodian. they are highly perishable. pacific north west restaurants insist on the bounty of wild edibles and one of the reasons dining there is exceptional and sublime experiences. not just fish and seafood..but also seaweeds, fiddleheads, mushrooms, berries, wild greens. absolutely gorgeous. by comparison, california is sterile and cultivated ag.
ogre_codes 6y ago
Just started mushroom hunting here in Oregon and the comment about hunters protecting their spots is so true. One of my friends shared a spot with us, but when we went there it was clear it was a fairly commonly known/ well trodden place. It's good food and fun to collect.

33 points by Thevet 6y ago

During my travels through Eastern Europe in the late 70's, I was able to go to Ukraine through Poland by train (quite the adventure). As it would happen, I fondly remember eating a large bowl of wild Mushrooms in a village (Ternopil Oblast)and asking the host if it was safe. Everyone laughed nervously and kept eating. Good times....good times.....

unsigner 6y ago
Just last year a distant-friend family, elderly husband and wife, died after eating what they had picked, after a lifetime of picking mushrooms; their son got away with weeks in the hospital and some organ damage. The danger is real. (Southeast Europe; they say the poisonous species are fewer and less poisonous the further north you go.)
- jelliclesfarm 6y ago
  In France, most pharmacists have the knowledge to ID toxic vs edible mushrooms. After foraging, people can take baskets of mushrooms to the pharamacy window and they will sort it out for you.
  - unsigner 6y ago
    It is widely believed around here that one toxic mushroom is reason enough to throw away the entire basket.
- unhammer 6y ago
  Weeell, there may be fewer, but the poisonous ones are also different (there have been reports of tourists from Southern Europe coming to Norway and picking the wrong things)
pmoriarty 6y ago
I remember reading of a mushroom expert who wound up needing a new liver because he misidentified some mushrooms. If it can happen to the experts it can happen to me, so I generally steer clear of wild mushrooms. However, if you are going to eat wild mushrooms, it's better to trust the experts than the non-experts, who get poisoned much more frequently.

Scoundreller 6y ago

I’m impressed the forager took the reporter along anywhere. Probably not to their best/known spots. A good forager will leave on their scooter and come back an hour or two later with a bucket or two. But they will never tell anyone where they went. Not their mother, not their father, not their siblings. Maybe their children if they’re about to die. Maybe.

jdrobertso 6y ago
My dad used to take me mushroom hunting for morels here in the US when I was a kid, and this is actually the truth. He would take me on the weekends to the more public spots, and when he didn't have me during the week because I was staying with my mom, he would go to his best spots and I'd come back the next weekend to him having giant bags full of mushrooms. He died when I was 13 and I know literally 0 of his best mushroom hunting spots.
- pixl97 6y ago
  Man, I'd love a bag of fresh morels right about now. I used to live where they were common, but no longer do. Nothing better than fresh mushrooms.
  - trianglem 6y ago
    I have 200 tulip poplars on my property. I have a morel bonanza once a year!
  - jelliclesfarm 6y ago
    How do you cook them?
    - jdrobertso 6y ago
      It's been years since I've had them, but we always just put a light coating of flour on them and fried them in a pan. Add a little salt and pepper or some paprika and they were delicious.

jelliclesfarm 6y ago

[..]When asked for advice on locations, the etiquette for a polite Ukrainian mushroom hunter is to describe some phony spots, so as not to appear rude, while in fact never revealing where the mushrooms really are. Ukrainians who have taken to tagging spots on Google maps are seen as spoilers of this tradition.[..] this is so true! and true everywhere! The Mushroom Hunters by Langdon is a fascinating account of how mushroom buyers operate in the pacific northwest, but they go all the way to montana and to the mid west for morels. there are many buyers who set up buy stations and the harvesters are seasonal..often south east asians..vietnamese and cambodian. they are highly perishable. pacific north west restaurants insist on the bounty of wild edibles and one of the reasons dining there is exceptional and sublime experiences. not just fish and seafood..but also seaweeds, fiddleheads, mushrooms, berries, wild greens. absolutely gorgeous. by comparison, california is sterile and cultivated ag.

ogre_codes 6y ago

Just started mushroom hunting here in Oregon and the comment about hunters protecting their spots is so true. One of my friends shared a spot with us, but when we went there it was clear it was a fairly commonly known/ well trodden place. It's good food and fun to collect.