...edible ones, not what you might have thought.
Autumn has arrived in Chile, and the rains have set in. Looking out the window at the northern Patagonian forest, I recalled mushroom foraging trips in Russia. The soft moss under rubber boots, the cap of a boletus peeking out from under a spruce branch, black fingers after peeling off the slippery skin of butter mushrooms, and finally, the aroma of mushrooms sizzling with potatoes in a frying pan.
In my childhood, a trip to the forest for mushrooms was the main outdoor activity. It was a kind of hiking in central Russia in the '90s. I've been going to the forest with my parents for as long as I can remember, practically since infancy. Thanks to this, I can easily navigate the forest and am not afraid of it at all.
Living in Chile near the forest, I naturally had a question - what about mushrooms here? And yes, the kind you eat, but not the supermarket champignons. And no, not the ones for special experiences. Although the latter are more well-known here.
There is no traditional practice of mushroom foraging here, so it's hard to get any information from the locals. In some parks, they talk about mushrooms and lure you into photo hunting. The specimens in the wet forests near Osorno Volcano are indeed very beautiful, although not very edible. Mushroom gastronomy is just beginning to take root here, and I've only come across a couple of mentions.
But after reading several illustrated guides on Patagonian mushrooms, one scientific paper, and a lot of information about poisonous, edible, and conditionally edible mushrooms, I set out on a quiet hunt.
I ended up with far more photographs than actual mushrooms. There are no familiar birch boletes or chanterelles here. I hoped to find butter mushrooms and saffron milk caps, but apparently not this time. However, I was lucky to find russulas, mushrooms I had seen at the local market, and another easily identifiable specimen.
The haul first went to boil for an hour and then to the frying pan. The tasting was a success - all the mushrooms turned out very tasty and aromatic, much better than store-bought champignons.
P.S.: A reminder that mushrooms can be dangerous, and you should not put anything in your mouth that you have the slightest doubt about.