Latvia's mushroom mania aims for world audience by Mike Collier, dpa (Feature)

Sep 1, 2010, 3:06 GMT

Riga - Some Latvians are more than happy to bid farewell to one of the finest summers on record and welcome the autumn rains that herald the start of the mushrooming season.

What is an occasional diversion in many countries is a national obsession in Latvia.

Any traveller outside the capital Riga will pass dozens of basket-toting figures disappearing and emerging along the sides of the road.

The numbers of mushroomers swell immediately after rain, which causes an explosion of fungus in Latvia's huge tracts of birch and pine forest.

Some mushroom hunters head out at daybreak and then sell their finds by the side of the road, but most take their hauls home to eat fresh or to pickle for the long winter months.

Maiga Majore, 67, is a typical Latvian mushroom hunter. She was taught to identify tasty treats from toxic toadstools by her mother. Now she is passing on the centuries-old tradition to her daughter Eva and grandson Arturs in the thick forest near the village of Straupe in central Latvia.

'You can eat that one - it's good with meat or cheese. That other one is no good, throw it away,' she instructs.

Any mushroom whose identity is not immediately obvious is subjected to a series of tests involving smelling, peeling off a small section of a cap, slicing with a pearl-handled knife or dabbing on the tongue.

The most popular mushroom - and the easiest to identify - is the golden chanterelle. But Maiga's large basket overflows with fungus of all shapes, colours and sizes, collected on a three-hour trek.

At various times during the expedition, Maiga steals away from the eyes of this reporter, only to reappear unexpectedly a few minutes later.

Expert mushroomers all have secret locations for the best mushrooms discovered during years of searching, and it is considered a serious breach of etiquette to ask where they are.

Indeed, such is the jealousy with which these treasure troves are guarded that when two mushroomers meet by chance in the middle of the forest, it is not unusual for them to completely ignore each other - save for a sly look into each others' baskets.

Mushrooming has also entered popular culture through such films as the Soviet-era comedy classic Tas Dulles Paulinas Del (Because of Crazy Pauline), about the misadventures of two elderly ladies trying to raise money by picking and selling huge quantities of mushrooms.

For centuries mushrooms provided a valuable source of food for the poor, but now they are also gaining some belated culinary recognition in Riga's expensive restaurants.

Eriks Dreibants is one of Latvia's top chefs and an enthusiastic advocate of wild food in general.

'Mushroom picking is one of the most important tasks of late summer and autumn, as well as being something you always discuss with friends,' he said.

'I remember from my childhood that a jar of marinated mushrooms would always be on the table during celebrations, and we looked forward to family mushrooming expeditions. It used to get quite comical when we would end up shouting to each other in the forest as we tried to meet up after wandering in different directions.'

Dreibants believes that the classic Latvian dish of mushrooms - in a cream sauce served with new potatoes and salted gherkins - ranks as highly as anything in world cuisine.

Now Latvia is hoping to share its mushroom mania with a wider audience.

The national countryside holiday association, Lauku Celotajs, has devised a special five-day mushrooming itinerary for tourists, hoping to attract foreigners to share Latvia's passion.

'Latvians like to combine the enjoyable with the useful,' Lauku Celotajs director Asnate Ziemele said. 'It is like playing a game with a mystery prize - you can never be sure what you will find.'

Japanese tourists are a particular target, as their culture also values mushrooms very highly, she says.

'Mushrooming appeals to everyone who loves the great outdoors and nature,' said Ziemele, 'and we already have Japanese tourists who come here specially for the mushrooms. They want to see the real thing!'