A Mushroom-Picking Trip to the Carpathians
Transcarpathia is a true mushroom Mecca: more than 300 species of ecologically clean mushrooms of every shape and colour grow here. Both connoisseurs and novice foragers wait with great impatience for the season of the forest’s bounty to open. The “mushroom hunt” begins in the Carpathians as early as June and lasts until the end of October, though certain mushrooms grow only at a particular time of year. Transcarpathians even have an accurate folk sign about it: once the birch turns yellow, it is time for mushrooms.
A mushroom-picking trip to the Carpathians: when and where to look?
The first mushroom wave in the Carpathians lasts up to two weeks, from late May to early June. Very rarely, but it does happen, that mushrooms are found in early spring - these are russulas, and even ceps. In summer it is the season for porcini, birch boletes and chanterelles. Genuine rarities grow here too - the so-called Caesar’s mushroom (found in the Mukachevo and Vynohradiv districts), as well as the “kvochka” (found in the mountainous parts of the region). Both have an unforgettable, powerful aroma, and both were once served for lunch or dinner to the Austro-Hungarian emperors. What is more, the forests of Transcarpathia are even home to the most expensive truffle in the world!
Peak time comes in autumn, when after the rains the forests are teeming with all manner of mushrooms: besides porcini, chanterelles and birch boletes, along come aspen boletes, slippery jacks, hedgehog mushrooms and honey fungus.
Mushrooms in the Carpathians grow on forest edges and glades, on mountain slopes, in valleys and even on steep inclines. The coniferous and beech forests of Transcarpathia are especially rich in mushrooms. Some of the most popular mushroom spots are the Mizhhirya, Perechyn, Velykyi Bereznyi, Svaliava and Rakhiv districts. Plenty of mushrooms can be found in the surroundings of Mukachevo, the village of Lumshory, where cascades of waterfalls and tubs of mineral water are located. Mushroom oases lie near the high-mountain lake Synevyr and the Shypit waterfall.
Gathering mushrooms - the quiet hunt in the Carpathians begins early in the morning - at six or seven o’clock. For gathering it is recommended to take a basket, but under no circumstances plastic bags or buckets - without air exchange the mushrooms quickly spoil.
Gathering mushrooms - the quiet hunt in the Carpathians: how to pick correctly?
Beginners often find it extremely hard to tell mushrooms apart, which can lead to severe poisoning. Mushrooms, like a sponge, absorb all harmful substances, including heavy metals, so they must be gathered in the “right” places and never in city parks, squares, courtyards, or near motorways or factories. And do not pull the mushroom out whole - carefully cut the stem, leaving half a centimetre above the ground, and then next year even more mushrooms will appear here.
A mushroom-picking trip to the Carpathians is a thrilling adventure, but carelessness can bring it to a rather unhappy end. Fortunately, there are several tried-and-tested tips to avoid poisoning.
Take a close look at the colour of the mushrooms - a suspicious white or an unusual greenish tinge may belong to a death cap. An excellent indicator of an edible mushroom is little worms: poisonous ones have none.
If you are a novice, it is better to look for tube-cap mushrooms (porcini, birch boletes, slippery jacks and the like) and steer clear of gilled ones - telling the poisonous ones apart among them is very difficult. Before setting off, be sure to ask acquaintances and look online to see exactly what edible mushrooms look like, and read up on the area you are heading to. After all, it is well known that in a pine forest you will find plenty of saffron milk caps, and in a birch grove - a sea of russulas. Put in your basket only the mushrooms you are 100% sure of.
Do not take mushrooms with a damaged stem, nor old, rotten, limp or worm-eaten ones. “Home methods” (darkening of an onion or silver) of testing mushrooms for toxicity will not help you either. Mushrooms spoil quickly, so right after gathering, clean and wash them, check them carefully, and boil them in salted water for 30 minutes several times over.
We wish you a successful and stunning “quiet hunt” for mushrooms in the Carpathians!
