Earlier this year I sat down and spoke with Joseph Krytinar, the building services manager at UNSW for more than 30 years, to talk about mushrooms and their growing popularity.
Mushroom Memories
Joe grew up in rural Czechoslovakia, and recalled how as a child he would go out mushroom foraging ‘it was sort of a competition of who found the most'. He moved to Australia in 1984 for work, but he didn't get back into mushroom-foraging until 20 years later when he was surprised to find Chanterelle mushrooms in Australia. Since then, Joe leads a mushroom-foraging group with regular trips into the forest to collect mushrooms (under his expertise of course!).
Today, Australian supermarkets like Coles and Woolies only sell basic mushrooms like button mushrooms and sometimes Swiss Brown, Enoki mushrooms. In a video with Nat Geo Australian fungi photographer, Stephan Axford added how “In Australia we’re what’s called a fungi phobia society.” Yet, this might be changing.
Newfound Fungi Fascination
I sat down which Joe to find reasons as to why mushroom searches are on the rise in Australia.
Joe says because of the pandemic people are unable to go overseas and there are a lot of people stuck inside. A lot of people are probably just bored and want to find a new hobby.
We also spoke about how migration also has probably been a big part of the rising fascination with mushrooms.
Joe says foraging is a common hobby for people from Central Europe, that's where foraging is really popular.
"When you go to a pine forest here you see a lot of Turkish, Italians, Czechs, Romanians, Russians, Polish, Germans, Indians; it is embedded in our culture. It is harder for Australians to trust if they do not have the built-in experience.”
China is one of the biggest consumers of mushrooms, and is also one of the largest groups of recent migration to Australia. Joe says: “when we go out, 60 to 70% of our friends are Asian - they do love to collect and cook with mushrooms”.
Chinese and other traditional medicine practices are known for using mushrooms. On a similar vein, another reason might be people trying to find alternative nutrients, which are more environmentally friendly. “Oyster mushrooms have a high volume of chromium - the mushrooms are rich in minerals and vitamin B12 - they are very healthy and good - for people,” Joe says.
Here are Joe’s tips on what to do and what not to do when collecting.
What to do:
- Joe recommends going to Oberon Forest near in Southern highlands. It's where he's been able to find his favourite mushrooms, wild chanterelles.
- Keep different species in separate containers. Joe explains that the “same species could look differently under different conditions like in a forest – than outside in a grassy land. It could be the same species but different looks.”
- When a mushroom isn't well known, use good field guides to identify it. Compare descriptions from guidebooks or reputable websites and be certain about its identification before you eat it.
- Cut and press the mushroom against a paper to create a spore print before you eat a mushroom. It will help to find to identify the Mushroom through spore prints identification.
- Ask locals in the area for advice on the mushrooms you have picked.
What not to do:
- Never go picking un-assisted. As Joe says jokingly: “all mushrooms are edible but some only once.”
- Never eat wild mushrooms raw.
- Never collect mushrooms near in buildings or streets. Due to them digesting food externally they soak up surrounding nutrients thus there is a risk of it digesting harsh chemicals.
- Never eat any white-capped mushroom that you have not positively identified. Some are deadly.
- Beware of any mushroom with a ring on its stalk.
- Do not put your mushrooms in a plastic bag when picked. They will deteriorate quickly. Instead put them in a cloth bag.
Writer's Bio: Carla Fischer, is in her third year of Politics and International Relations. She spends most of her time finding patterns, and collecting information to find reason in her curiosity. This has evolved to writing in the hopes that her stories impact the readers. She enjoys spending time with the people, and living through the adventure that comes along the way.
