Italy’s Mushroom Obsession

Italian’s have had the strictest lockdown conditions for about three months, and among the things they missed more than anything else is their obsession with hunting for mushrooms.

In fact, for Italians, foraging in the forest for mushrooms is such an obsession that in the mushrooms season, they take days off from work to go into the woods, often far from where they live. It is common to see news stories of people disappearing, when in fact they have gone hunting for mushrooms. As the hunters try to keep their sources secret, some wear camouflage and hunt in the dark, leading to sever and sometimes fatal accidents where they slide from steep, damp slopes in the mountain forests – the Italian papers call it “The Massacre of the Mushroom Hunters.”

Why do Italian’s have this obsession?

The true reason is lost in the midst of time and perhaps stems from when sustenance was harvested from the land. Many stews were made from potatoes and mushrooms, with meat only being added in more recent times. Mushrooms were also an easy food to preserve, dried or in oil, and were available after the season was over. Many mushroom types cannot be cultivated, particularly truffles, only growing in the wild on their own terms – so those who know where to find them can make some decent money at the same time.

What type of mushrooms do the Italians hunt for?

Best known is truffle hunting, but aside from this, the king of them all  is the “porcino”. These are followed by the “ovuli” (egg shaped), “galletti” (the caps recall a cockscomb), “spugnole” looks like a sponge, and “funghi di pino” because they are found under pine trees only.

Porcino mushrooms in a basket

When and where does the hunting take place?

An expert mushrooms hunter never tells their secret place. They may even wake up in the middle of the night to get into their favourite forest without being seen. The hunting seasons are spring and autumn, but this can really change as the rain runs the show. After it has rained, one must wait 10 days in spring and 15 days in autumn, before hunting breaks out!

It is forbidden to go into the woods with a plastic bag or a rake; only wicker or wood baskets and wood sticks are allowed. In certain areas hunters must pay a small contribution that helps the communities to keep the forest clean. It is also recommended to clean the mushrooms from the ground while you are still in the woods, so the spores are free to fall down and reproduce themselves again for next season.

Garfagnana is a perfect mushroom hunting location

All the woods along the Apennines mountains are rich of mushrooms but the most famous parts in Italy are the “Spezzino” – Eastern Liguria famous for Cinque Terre and Gulf of Poets – and “Garfagnana” located in the Lucca province towards the Apuan Alps renowned for Carrara marble quarries. These regions are rainy, compared to others, and forest-covered, magical places for mushrooms hunters!