Why do people in Russia like to pick mushrooms?
"Here, our forest ‘beef’, the mushrooms have come! It smells salty, strong," wrote Ivan Shmelev in his novel ‘The Summer of the Lord’. What, in ancient times, was a source of food for poor families, has long since turned not only into a food source for all, but also into literal entertainment, a hobby, a summer ritual with a taste of hunting excitement and even danger to life.
A serene morning forest saturated with moisture. To see it, you need to get up at the crack of dawn, before sunrise. Take a thermos with strong tea (or coffee) and some sandwiches that you prepared the previous evening. Eat and drink it all on the way. It’ll help you wake up properly, at the same time. And then it’s time to start your "quiet hunt" in the forest!
It may sound silly, but you really need to know how to pick mushrooms. The ability to distinguish an edible mushroom from a poisonous one is not enough. A good mushroom picker can sense mushroom spots like a predator senses its prey. You need skill, intuition, experience acquired by generations and the transfer of knowledge from elders to younger ones. Don’t forget that what has now become a hobby and one of the ways to take a short break from urban life, for centuries helped people survive in times of famine. There are many forests in Russia, so picking wild mushrooms and berries saved energy (they grow on their own), diversified the table and supported families in lean years. So, understanding these “gifts of the forest” was a very important skill.
Mushrooms – it’s no coincidence that they don’t belong to either the plant or animal kingdoms – have their own habits and they are worth studying. Some like the lacy sun of a forest edge, others like the damp shade. Aspen and birch bolete mushrooms prefer not only the soil of a deciduous forest, but also the sour featherbed of coniferous litter. Boletus are loyal even to sunny forest glades, while milk mushrooms and chanterelles prefer birch forests. One thing is certain, however: going mushroom picking in a drought is just a waste of time. It’s no coincidence that there is a proverb in Russian: "They popped up like mushrooms after the rain." So, it’s best to focus on stable, damp weather.
Don’t kid yourself, the forest is a dangerous place. It tickles the nerves. That’s why folklore depicts the forest as another world, often belonging to demons. It’s easy to dislocate or break a leg on soft, uneven ground. A branch that hits your face can damage your eyes. Mosquitoes and midges will cause constant trouble and ticks can give you a dangerous disease. So, you need to be thoughtful when going into a forest: comfortable shoes, closed clothes, muted voices and insect repellents.
The ability to navigate in the forest is a separate motive of Russian folk tales and ‘bylichki’ (‘little stories’). What to do if "the goblin is leading" or "the kikimora is playing". Experienced mushroom pickers will always have their favorite places. Usually, they tend not to get lost. But, it happens that "the mushroom can lead away" and a person can end up in an unfamiliar part of the forest. Of course, a beacon, a smart watch, a GPS tracker and a spare power supply are a mushroom picker's first assistants. But, there are often cases when all the batteries are dead and the person still cannot find a way home. What can you rely on in such a situation? A mechanical hand compass and/or knowledge of the terrain: the approximate size and location of the forest, what settlements are nearby, etc. The ability to determine the cardinal directions by the sun and moss on the trees is also very handy. Meanwhile, an excellent old-fashioned way of marking the path taken: breaking off branches along the way. Here, a mushroom picker is no different from a primitive hunter: they are one on one with wild nature. Nature is big and ancient, while humans are small.
If the "hunt" was a success, that is, the mushroom picking trip went well, then the whole family will have a unifying cleaning ritual in the evening: the mushrooms must be processed immediately, otherwise they will go bad. Drying, freezing, pickling and other types of preparations for the winter. And long months of pleasure. There’s a story about a popular brand of chips choosing the "taste of Russia". It’s no coincidence that the resulting flavor was "mushrooms with sour cream". So, this is it – the taste of Russia!
