Later, I went to Farmers Market with my husband and I saw there dried foxys (Cantharellus cibarius) for very high price for 50 grams. “See!  We could get it for free!” – I exclaimed.

That was 10 years ago, and after that we lived in Russia for 8 years and my husband learnt some differences in mushrooms and he accepted the fact you pick them in wild. Now, we came back to Atlanta and recently my daughter and I went to Starbucks close to our neighborhood.  On the way back I collected mushrooms you see on the picture.  I recognized mohovik (Boletus variegatus) and even few legendary white mushrooms (Boletaceae) Don’t confuse please with British white mushroom which is simple Champignons.  I was almost sure they were good to eat, however, Continue reading “What excites Russian and scares Americans (continued from September 26th)” →

Speaking of cultural differences, the recent thing came into my mind is mushroom picking.  Mushroom picking is a part of European culture.  From Wikipedia.org “Mushroom hunting, mushrooming, mushroom picking, mushroom foraging, and similar terms describe the activity of gathering mushrooms in the wild, typically for eating. This is popular in most of Europe, including the Nordic, Baltic, and Slavic countries and the Mediterranean Basin as well as in Australia, Japan, Korea, Canada, and the northwestern, Indian subcontinent, northeastern, Midwestern and Appalachian United States.”  I wouldn’t speak for Appalachian United States, but I can say for American South, that they have no idea about this innocent entertainment. I think this good, because there is no competition here.  I would even say that in Russia there is a definitely Mushroom hunting, but here it’s more like mushroom picking.

I remember 10 years ago when I studied at Emory, Continue reading “What excites Russian and scares Americans” →