Mushrooms and mushrooming in Ukraine

[Gerd-Schueler]

Originally posted by Kathy
Mushroom picking was always popular in Ukraine. My grandmother, God rest her soul, always picked mushrooms (after emigrating to Canada), and knew all species. My godfather, God rest his soul, told me of a mushroom called "mushka". It was a poison mushroom that was sprinkled with sugar. Flies were attracted to it, and of course, died instantly.

Mushroom picking in forests throughout Ukraine, even near Chernobyl' (though not in the zone) remains very popular. Every year, starting in early summer, television and newspaper ads appear showing poison mushroom varieties, as every year, many people die eating poison mushrooms. This "art" has lost been lost in my family. I am not confident enough to pick safe mushrooms, so I stay with store bought varieties.

Quote added:
It's a pitty, but my future wife (Ukrainian and vrach) said to me that I can eat mushrooms bought alongside road -- but only once and in a very small quantity. So I knew that fall-out also reached areas outside of the forbidden zone. In Germany we know that it will take some time so that Caesium will be absorbed by the years and years of collecting mushrooms - mushrooms absorb in high quantities the Caesium from the ground. So please be careful.

[Zbyszek]

Originally posted by Gerd-Schueler

It's a pitty, but my future wife (Ukrainian and vrach) said to me that I can eat mushrooms bought alongside road -- but only once and in a very small quantity. So I knew that fall-out also reached areas outside of the forbidden zone. In Germany we know that it will take some time so that Caesium will be absorbed by the years and years of collecting mushrooms - mushrooms absorb in high quantities the Caesium from the ground. So please be careful.

Hello Katya and Gerd,

Yes Gerd you (or your doctor lady) are definitely right about being cautious. I never buy any mushrooms along the road but it is mainly because I love to pick them myself! I trust myself and it is based on long-time experience. I know where I pick my mushrooms and I know how do handle them. Mushrooms are a real titbit and they need treating them seriously. I can even say about a specific culture of mushrooming, processing mushrooms and serving them in the most elegant, fancy way.
Bought mushrooms are like colours in the Daltonian eyes.
They smell different, look so different and taste so much different. Particularly, Boletus is a nature wonder to me. It is just a little, beautiful masterpiece of God.
I know this business is not for everyone. It is predominantly a matter of awereness going down from generation to generation. It is worth preserving as a part of our tradition.
Some mushroom species are much better radiation and pollution absorbers then others. I heard about an idea in Ukraine or Belarus about growing specific mushrooms species only to absorb the environmental waste and then dispose of them. Probaly it did not work because of the annoying question: where to store them safely?

[Laryska]

Mushrooming is not only popular in Ukraine, but my family here in Canada continues this tradition of picking mushrooms. My grandfather taught us, and it is so much fun to find a nice mushroom in the forest or grassy field. However, where my family usually picks mushrooms is illegal because the best mushrooms are in provincial parks... I am sorry if I have offended anyone by picking these mushrooms, but I can't help myself, I am ukrainian!
Cheers,
Laryska

[Gerd-Schueler]

Originally posted by Laryska
Mushrooming is not only popular in Ukraine, but my family here in Canada continues this tradition of picking mushrooms. My grandfather taught us, and it is so much fun to find a nice mushroom in the forest or grassy field. However, where my family usually picks mushrooms is illegal because the best mushrooms are in provincial parks... I am sorry if I have offended anyone by picking these mushrooms, but I can't help myself, I am ukrainian!
Cheers,
Laryska

Dear Laryska,
mushrooms have fine and different tastes and don't worry to look for mushrooms in Canadian parks. Who would really interdict that to a nice young woman. BUT the problem in Ukraina is different, it's near Chernobyl and the radiation didn't go only into the now interdicted areas (also a very great part of Belorossia). But the wind was also going to the west and south-west. So the radiation remaining up to now makes it DANGEROUS for the life to look for mushrooms there and also to eat them. I talk about Caesium and ask about the time it remains. Caesium is especially absorbed by the mushrooms. So please don't mix up: "not allowed" and "serious danger for the health". Nevertheless, I wish you to enjoy mushrooms in Canada. I'm German and I also like mushrooms and like to eat them - - - here in Germany.

[Laryska]

Yes, I totally agree with not picking mushrooms near Chernobyl. It is very dangerous. I have a friend from Ukraine who lived in Lviv, and right now she is experiencing a thyroid problem, she blames this on Chernobyl, and I totally don't blame her for doing so. I would be very cautious to pick anything that grows around the Chernobyl region, and even as a result I of Chernobyl I would be cautious with anything there. It is risky because Ukraine is a very small country, who knows were the toxic gases went!

[johnstruthers]

No no no! Ukraine is a very LARGE country, larger than France, larger than the reunited Germany. Chernobyl is way up there by the Belarus border, most of the radiation went north, the rest of the country save for a pie-shaped area south of Pripyat and west of Kiev that has heavy contamination, is safe, safe safe. It grows good food and delicious mushrooms.

I think it was Katya who mentioned the varenniki and pirogi thing. The words are interchangeable, really, though pirogi (pirozhki in the diminutive) tend to be smaller in size, but that's the Polish preference (and they call them pirogi, too). Vareniki that I buy in the store come with meat or mushrooms. They use champignon as the commercial filler, I think. I had some mushrooms cooked with sliced pickles night before last. Sounds weird, but tasted good.

But don't be afraid to pick mushrooms in Ukraine, and don't be afraid to buy them. Nobody with a soul is going to deliberately sell you radiated shrooms, and the people who sell them know the difference between poisonous varieties and the safe ones. Buyers usually do, too. It doesn't take much to get an education on them. More important: Enjoy them! They're versatile, you can get all kinds of flavors out of them, they "put up" good, and they're good for you.

And Ukraine is a very, very big country, with lots of people and lots of mushrooms.

[Laryska]

HI,
Perogi are not pronounced Perogi in Ukrainian--- Pyrohy. This is the correct pronunciation. And yes they are bascially the same thing. I believe that it depends where you come from, which word you will use for this tasty dish.
And the reason why I said Ukraine is a small country is because I live in Canada, and comparing ukraine to canada, it is very small.