About mushroom trips in the forest: “Now you have to open your mushroom eyes”

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The question Rosemarie Kuhn was asked most this Thursday morning: “Can you eat it?”

Of course, we are talking about mushrooms, for example porcini mushrooms. And right now they’re showing up like crazy: “I don’t remember a year with this many people for this long.” Because: It’s been mostly dry for the last few weeks and being wet at night encourages their growth.

19 collectors equipped with baskets and knives gathered at the valley station in Savognin GR to search for delicious mineral resources and learn more about them.

Rosemarie Kuhn is the official mushroom inspector and member of the Chur Mushroom Society. She is originally from Oberuzwil SG, but has been organizing mushroom trips all over Graubeğen for 26 years.

This morning your phone will ring again and again; The days without mushrooms are over, the autumn holidays have arrived and the sun is shining. Many people now want their returns reviewed by Kuhn.

huge demand

Collecting mushrooms is now fashionable. Courses throughout Switzerland are fully booked. Rosemarie Kuhn says her courses are so popular that she could offer twice as many courses. “Nowadays, young people and families are also interested in mushrooms. “Not just for food, but also for nature.”

In fact, the group is very diverse. The youngest is nine years old and the oldest is eighty-one. Everyone now stands in a semicircle around Kuhn and listens carefully. First of all, there is a “little genre theory” before starting to collect.

There are more than 6,000 species of mushrooms, namely those whose fruiting bodies protrude from the ground. And only a few of them are edible. Kuhn placed signs on the ground in front of him with the names of the mushroom orders: “Lamellen”, “Röhrlinge” or “Leistlinge”. For example, egg sponges belong to Leistlingen, and porcini mushrooms belong to Boletus. Kuhn also recommends these to beginning collectors because they are easier to identify.

He picks up his ID book: “There are hundreds of layered mushrooms” – the pages are about a thumb’s width in that order – and “Only a few of the donuts”. Kuhn takes the pages between his fingers. But there are risks lurking there too.

Don’t start collecting frantically

Before starting the picking process, he emphasizes that today’s mushroom tour is primarily about learning and observing: “We don’t graze the mushrooms, we pick one piece per species.” It is forbidden to pick mushrooms in groups of more than three people in Graubsunu. Different regulations apply for individual collectors depending on the canton. These can all be found on the website of the Association of Official Fungus Control Bodies in Switzerland.

But now the theory is over. The gondola takes you to Tigignas and from there you walk through the forest towards the valley. Once he reaches the top, Kuhn instructs: “Now you must open your mushroom eye.”

And indeed: If you examine the roadsides carefully, you will soon find what you are looking for. Untrained eyes often have to look twice: Many mushrooms are well camouflaged on grass or wood due to their color.

After a few hundred meters the group stops. Kuhn: “If you control mushrooms, it’s important to bring the entire mushroom with you.” Because: The body and base can often help identify the mushroom.

Höörli is good

For example, the green death cap mushroom, the world’s most poisonous mushroom, has a protrusion on its bottom that helps identify it. Kuhn offers another clue: Mushrooms with hairs under their caps or on their bodies are often poisonous. “Remember: Höörli are gföhrli.”

The group then goes outside and tries to find one mushroom from each order. Conclusion: There are actually a lot of layered mushrooms. Edible mushrooms are also included. For example, an umbrella with a white umbrella and a feathery handle that “tastes like veal chops”, or a purple red knight with a big purple hat. But Kuhn reminds us, “The Höörli are good.” And it removes a veil of poisonous, reddish-brown hair with tiny hairs on its stem.

We continue towards the valley. Participants begin searching on their own.

Next stop: The fireplace after Tobel. Kuhn looks at the baskets and says which mushrooms are edible and which are not. And again he gives tips: Be careful with young mushrooms! “It comes out of the ground like an egg and looks like edible bovista.”

However: Where fly agarics grow, porcini mushrooms are usually not far away.

About three hours later, the group reached the valley. At the hotel, the mushroom inspector checks the contents of the baskets again. It states: 18 edible mushrooms, including porcini mushrooms, breadcrumbs and poppy mushrooms.

The collected edible mushrooms are prepared and served in the kitchen. There is also pasta. Rosemarie Kuhn is pleased. “We saw a wide variety of mushrooms.”

This is more important than food. Because: He doesn’t like mushrooms very much.

Source : Blick