Mushroom Folklore

Many mushroom names come from cultural history, customs and language. Many mushrooms, particularily the wild mushrooms do not have Swedish or Anglo Saxon names because the people of these cultures did not eat many mushrooms. Some mushroom names come from words in a language such as Girolle. The Chanterelle is often times called a Girolle which comes from the French word to twist, and refers to the shape.

From Italian, German and French, to Polish, Russian and Hungarian, people from all over the world used mushrooms. In some places, laws were actually passed forbidding common people to eat mushrooms. For those who could eat mushrooms, the more mushroom dishes that were served, the higher one's clout was.*

Italians are enthusiastic gatherers and the spring and fall gathering becomes a family affair. Families venture out to collect mushrooms and bring them back to town. The villiage mushroom "witch" was the person who was most knowledgeable and was able to identify which mushrooms were safe to keep.*

Asia is another area where mushrooms were and are highly prized. The Chinese use over 100 varieties of wild mushrooms for medicinal and cooking purposes. While the Chinese use many different kinds of mushrooms, the Japanese tend to favor black or Shiitake mushrooms. Matsutake are also highly prized and are often imported for very high prices. Mushroom hunting was a noble act "governed by elaborate rules of dress, speech, and behavior."*

*Work cited from The Edible Mushroom A Gourmet Cook's Guide by Margaret Leibenstein.