MY FIRST EXPERIENCE COLLECTING MUSHROOMS IN CAMPRODÓN

As part of the activities that Iris had prepared us to get to know Camprodon, it was going to pick mushrooms in one of the nearby mountains of the town.

As we know, mushrooms are a star product of autumn, their varieties and gastronomic riches make them highly valued in the kitchen and the experience of picking them up by yourself is very enriching, but to carry out this activity you have a huge respect for the natural environment since mushrooms believe in nature and it is our responsibility to care for and not alter the surroundings; since in addition and go to look for mushrooms is also to connect and enjoy what Mother Earth offers us.

That day was beautiful, the sun was very bright and the mountain very alive waiting for us to share it with it. Entering the forest and getting to where we would start the activity, Iris gave us a small masterclass about the different types of mushrooms that we could find and how they can be located since to be mid-autumn and the end of the season to collect mushrooms, it would complicate us a little to find them between leaves and moss.

We had a lot of fun … between crouching, removing the leaves to see what we found, and shouting at Iris to supervise us if we had found a good mushroom and each one celebrating our first mushroom found, is one of the best experiences that I took from Camprodon.

Within a wide variety of mushrooms we found were:

  • Yellow Foot: you can find them in the pine forests, mainly those of Pino Albar. They grow to form a group of mushrooms in the shady mosses, so they are very easy to find. In our case, we found it difficult to see them since they were confused with the leaves and the moss, because being in the middle of autumn the trees had lost many leaves and to be able to see them we had to bend down and keep always with the mountain of ascending shape These have grayish-brown hat approximately of diameter of about 3 to 6cm, soft orange color and give off a subtle aroma of moisture. 

  • Black Llanega  It can be found around the pine trees and some oak that is 20 to 30 years old. It is a viscous mushroom due to the large transparent jelly that covers both the hat and the foot. Its color is grayish-brown; the measures of this are usually irregular so that the hat can be 5 to 15 cm in diameter, the foot between 5 to 10 cm long and body 1.5 to 4 cm. The meat is white and compact, with a soft smell and sweet taste.

  • Grey Knight: It appears with great abundance in the pine forests, both natural and repopulation of all species, including those of Pino Carrasco. The hat is born closed and with maturity tends to open until flattened and can be up to 5 cm in diameter. The blades are uneven white broke at the beginning and grayish as the mushroom matures. The broken white foot is thin and fibrous, it breaks very easily. The meat is scarce and has no particular smell. Ideal for making creams and omelets.

It is very important that when you do this type of activity you know the types of mushrooms that can be found in the area where you go and which of these are edible.

if you dare to do it will be a bomb.

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