Food from nature - mushrooms

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Out picking mushrooms. Would you like to try picking mushrooms? Gathering in woods and fields is a fine activity for young and old, and the right to harvest is in fact set down in the Outdoor Recreation Act (friluftsloven). Mushroom picking does not require much equipment, but it is important to keep mushrooms you know are safe separate from mushrooms you do not know so well. Get a mushroom inspector to check the mushrooms you have picked, or use the Soppkontrollen app if you are unsure.

Tips for when you go picking mushrooms

• Something to put the mushrooms in
  • A mushroom basket, a stiff paper bag with room for several boxes
• Separate mushrooms you know from those you are unsure of
  • You can use plastic cups of the kind grapes and stone fruit come in. Put different mushrooms in different cups.
• A knife
  • One of the small root knives from the kitchen works well.
• A brush
  • For example a toothbrush or a small paintbrush.
  • You can make your own mushroom knife from a disposable knife and a cheap toothbrush taped together with gaffer tape
• A mushroom book
  • Look for more recent mushroom books by Norwegian authors. New information about mushrooms and poisoning keeps coming.
  • You can also drop by the Soppkontrollen and ask for a copy of the brochure Farlige giftsopper og gode matsopper.
• Check whether the mushroom is maggot-eaten
  • Cut it in two through the cap and stem
• Clean and check the mushroom carefully
  • cut away damaged or unsightly parts
  • brush off soil and grit

(Norges sopp- og nyttevekstforbund, u.å.)

Grouping of mushrooms

We group mushrooms by the structure they have under the cap. So the first thing you must always do is check carefully under the cap.

• Hedgehog mushrooms have small spines under the cap
  • All mushrooms with soft spines and pale cap colours are safe to eat
  • Examples: the pale hedgehog and the red-yellow hedgehog
• Boletes look almost as if they have a sponge under the cap. The sponge is made up of many thin tubes set close together.
  • No boletes are poisonous, but some taste unpleasant and are not edible mushrooms
  • Good edible mushrooms are the cep and the slippery jack
• Ridged mushrooms have ridges under the cap
  • These are easy to recognise once you have learned them
  • The chanterelle, the winter chanterelle and the yellow trumpet mushroom are good edible mushrooms and fine beginner mushrooms
  • Once you find one, there are often more nearby
• Gilled mushrooms have thin gills under the cap
  • It can be sensible to stay away from these until you have learned them well
  • All the most poisonous mushrooms we have in Norway are gilled mushrooms

Photo: Gina Wigestrand, Snuitide

Photo: Gina Wigestrand, Snuitide

Photo: Gina Wigestrand, Snuitide

Edible mushrooms

Photo: Gina Wigestrand, Snuitide

The winter chanterelle, chanterelle and hedgehog mushroom are fine mushrooms for beginners to pick, as they have few look-alikes and are easy to recognise.

All mushrooms with soft spines underneath and pale cap colours are safe to eat. These are called edible hedgehog mushrooms; the pale hedgehog and the red-yellow hedgehog are two of the edible hedgehog mushrooms.

The winter chanterelle and the chanterelle are ridged mushrooms and easy to recognise once you have learned them. Once you find one, there are usually more nearby. These are fine beginner mushrooms.

(Norges sopp- og nyttevekstforbund, u.å.)

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Poisonous mushrooms

We have some poisonous mushrooms that are regarded as very poisonous.

Examples of very poisonous mushrooms are: the deadly webcap, the death cap and the destroying angel. If you ingest a tiny piece of these you can become very ill. A mushroom inspector will ask you to throw away all mushrooms lying together with a mushroom that is highly poisonous. This is why you should always keep mushrooms you are completely sure of separate from those you are unsure of or think are poisonous.

These mushrooms you should not pick

• All mushrooms with brown caps and brown gills.
  • For example the deadly webcap and the fool’s webcap, but there are many more.
• All mushrooms with white caps and white gills.
  • For example the destroying angel.
• All mushrooms with brown caps and white gills.
  • For example the panther cap.
• Red mushrooms with white gills.
  • For example the fly agaric and the sickener.

(Norges sopp- og nyttevekstforbund, u.å.)

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Next steps

• Food from nature — wild plants — related harvesting
• Use of useful plants historically — cultural context
• Gathering — activity hub
• Plants — species knowledge

Learn more

• Mattilsynet — drinking water and hygiene — food safety outdoors
• Helsedirektoratet — dietary advice — nutrition
• Sopp- og Nyttevekstforbundet — mushrooms and wild plants
• DNT — trip food — recipes and tips

Text

Norges sopp- og nyttevekstforbund, adapted by Hilde Grøtte, Snuitide (2022)