Fines range from a minimum of € 50 to a maximum of € 300 for those who are not in possession of the identification card. Mushrooms may be searched for from one hour before to one hour after sunset. Clean the mushrooms at the base on site and place them in containers allowing for mature spores fall to the ground. for small sizes.ĭo not use rakes or hooks do not destroy the soil. Care must be taken for the minimum size of the cap: 3 cm. There are different though simple and obvious rules to follow: three kilos of mushrooms per day may be picked (only 1 for Blackthorn and Ovolo species).
#Forager game mushrooms professional#
These as other hosts of pearls of wisdom, are to make it understood that mushrooms are not to be messed with, always trust and rely on professional mycologists.Īuthorization for the collection and rulesĪuthorization “for the collection of edible wild epigeal mushrooms “ issued by the Metropolitan City of Naples (Forestry Office), is achieved after passing an examination, it is personal and not transferable, and valid for five years, validated by the payment made each year. Care must be taken with “mature” mushrooms with bloom on the cap ( see Orecchioni or Chiodini), and to the too woody stems of chiodini (which by the way evolve a marked toxicity when frozen). On Ischia – risk making- yet continued to be eaten after repeated boiling -is the poisonous Boletus Satanas, the famous Capone. For example the Clitocybe nebularis, a late-winter mushroom can still to be found in large quantities. Mushrooms which previously were consumed in large quantities are now considered inedible or toxic. Mycology is a science in continuous and constant evolution. One should never rely on popular, empirical beliefs or hearsay. Each mushroom has a way, unique and “Ischian” to be prepared, cooked and eaten. Regarding the cuisine – other than the usual mix of fried mushrooms - every mushroom requires a different way of cooking.
#Forager game mushrooms how to#
Besides the late autumn and winter species are many and exceptionally tasty (for those who know them, know how to gather them and above all how to cook them). However the scent and taste of mushrooms collected in Ischia, is incomparable to others. Quantitatively, the island is not at the level of “game bags” claimed on the mainland. Even the initially reluctant islander, has had to study in order to obtain the necessary mycological identification card. In an effort to remedy this, in recent years controls and regulations have become more constant.
For some ten years or so, due to the increase of traffic and paths and cart roads becoming more accessible, hunting for porcini has become somewhat a fad, standardized and often indiscriminate. Only then, when all conditions are optimal and there have been no sudden drops in temperature and above all fresh winds are sustained, does the ‘forage’ begin. However mushroom pickers await the first rains of mid-September in trepidation but more often than not those of early October, or even November hoping for mild and warm weather, (perhaps with the south wind and dew) for 13-15 days in a row. It could not be otherwise: the summer almost always stretches on nice and dry for months, pleasing holidaymakers who, like lizards, soak up and metabolize the scorching sun. Its climate - and, therefore, its microclimates - is not like those more suitable for mushroom picking in the hinterland of Avellino or Benevento, where often during summer afternoons, it rains, allowing for the growth and harvesting of the sought after porcini mushroom. In the heart of the Mediterranean, Ischia is our unique, special small Madagascar, a land of fire, sea, sun, capricious vapours, flavours and sounds its soil which patiently still benefits us with juicy fruits, figs sweeter than honey, grapes with stirring properties, could but not donate mushrooms.
In good weather, in the heat, amidst rain drenched thorns and herbs filled with dew, crispy chestnut leaves or soft-smelling moss. the mushroom forager finds himself wandering through the woods and briars –well known places of the soul, stone by stone, year after year –beating trails, trodden through with alternating fortune. The calendar is marked and patiently, hopefully, dreamily, they wait. Then hopes for a more than mild temperature, keeping fingers crossed against strong winds and sudden drops in temperature. The mushroom hunter waits for rain as if it were manna. Everyone extremely jealous of his own passed down and personal “places”, passed down from grandfather to son, and more often from grandfather to grandson. Until before the war, the islanders living in the villages and towns (suburbs) higher up were almost exclusive “foragers” of mushrooms. Woods of chestnut, majestic oak, of the extremely dark – alternating silver and green holm oaks, and all that Mediterranean maquis of thatch, strawberry trees, myrtles, Pulici, and ferns from the beginning to the end.
The woods on the island of Ischia hold a special charm.
0 kommentar(er)
