Mushrooming

Tasty Off-Season Fun

During the off-season months on Hydra, mushroom foraging is eagerly anticipated by many locals who enjoy the substantial and tasty fungi that erupt under the pine trees on the first sunny morning after a day of rainfall.

And that's about as much of a hint to locate them that I'm going to give!

I now understand why Hydriots closely guard the secret of their preferred 'spot'. Competition to be the first to find a patch of mushrooms is fierce. It's much more hard work to find them than I'd imagined. So I too will be as stingy about the location that my son-in-law showed me last Tuesday.

My family and I set out at about 9:30 and reached Harriet & Vassilis' favourite spot after an hour's walk. To our dismay, at least three people had arrived earlier than us and were already packing crates and large baskets laden with giant mushrooms on their mules.

"There will be more", pronounced Vassilis confidently. He grinned wickedly at me and pointed at the almost impenetrable undergrowth when I asked which path we were going to take.

The undergrowth, strewn with ankle-twisting small rocks and barb-wire like prickly Gorse bushes, meant that very soon we were all separated as we each concentrated on scanning the ground taking our own 'paths'.

In the background, we could hear the cheerful 'clonking' of goat bells which we added to with calls of our own to keep in touch. Our calls turned to excited yodelling when, despite our late arrival, we did find some of these exquisite delicacies.

My Grandson, Anastasis, was good at spotting mushrooms perhaps because he is closer to the ground! We found about five different varieties; all dismissed as inedible or poisonous, as well as the correct edible type. It was easy to tell the difference as the correct ones are very distinctive.

Now that I've done it once, I know that in future I will need a basket or bucket, a small knife and gloves when I go foraging.

A bag to collect is no good because the mushrooms get quickly damaged and squashed. The trick to keep them pristine is to lay the mushrooms upside down in layers in a basket or bucket.

A small knife used to cut the stem without disturbing the earth under the mushroom means that more will pop up next time.

And at least one glove is needed because the mushrooms like to grow in the prickly drifts of pine needles under the trees and below the sharp Gorse. Rummaging with bare hands can be painful.

Using a stick turned out to be very useful too.