While I was walking with the mountaineers(here), there was a gentleman in the company, Mr.Gile, a connoisseur of mushrooms.
When we turned from the starting point into the forest, someone mentioned mushrooms.
He smiled and told us: "Mushrooms are very difficult to find at this time of the year, before winter. Only certain, late varieties, so please, before you pick them, invite me to look at them, because all mushrooms are edible, but some only once in a life".
Walking towards the top of the mountain on a narrow path. on wet and slippery trails (or off-trails), they were a big enough challenge to keep our eyes fixed on the road ahead, not looking around for mushrooms.
If it was spring, it wouldn't be a problem for us at all. The white mushroom caps would stand out in the green grass like stars in the night sky.
Like this, the mature brown mushrooms were almost completely camouflaged and buried in the leaves.
We barely spot them.
For some of them that we found and took pictures of, the old mushroom master was not close enough for us to ask him, while in several situations he told us everything about the mushrooms that we found.
One woman from the group was interested in collecting them, so I was near her and listened to two lectures.
One of the mushrooms we found, he defined as edible and without any harmful effects on human health.
And he declared the second one as conditionally edible. When I asked him what that meant, he told me that this mushroom is not categorized as poisonous, but if it is not prepared adequately, it can cause health and stomach problems, stomach pains, and nausea to certain people. But when it is properly prepared, soaked in water, boiled, and only then fried, it is safe to eat.
This woman, who was collecting mushrooms, decided not to put this "conditionally edible" (and I would rather say "potentially poisonous") into the bag with the mushrooms she collected.
"Smart," the mushroom master told us.
It is better to eat a package of mushrooms from the market, than to risk health problems with forest mushrooms.
And in the forest I can collect interesting fruits that are not eaten, but can be used as decoration.
I was interested in his knowledge of mushrooms, and I can't wait for spring, so that I can meet him on a new walk, through a new forest, and become a little more actively involved in his analyzes of the mushrooms that we will find.