Collecting mushrooms – I never understood why my partner called it ‘catching mushrooms’ until we started to do it regularly. It is not as if the mushrooms actually hide from you, nor do they run away, but is not very easy to find them in the quantities that you dream of. It is like a hunt. In Gerona they describe it this way – ‘Caçar bolets’
You go to the woods. There are pine trees – because mushrooms like to grow under pines along with other trees like these cork oaks (alsina surera)which look very naked where the outer bark has been removed to make stoppers for wine bottles Sometimes there are other animalsThere are paths which look tempting but to find the elusive mushroom you must dive into the undergrowth, crackle through brambles, clamber over fallen branches and use your intuition, or your nose or something very specialist which I seem to lack. The mushrooms that you see are often not the ones you want to collect. But sometimes they are – like these Apagallums.
This one is closed when it opens it is like thisThey are so called after the candle snuffers which ‘apaga’ the’ llum’ – turn off the light. Sometimes you find a gem. This is a RovellóUsually where there is one there are more…..but on this occasion there were not!
We had enough to eat though and survived the feast without any ill effects.Mushrooms have lovely names whether they are edible or not.
Peu de Rata Groc – Yellow Rat’s Foot
Llengua de Gat – Cat’s Tongue
Trompetes de la Mort – Trumpets of Death
Rossinyol – Nightingale
And of course you need a beautiful basket to catch them in