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}}</ref> Many field guides – printed and online – are available too. But most Polish mushroomers learn to recognise fungal species from their parents or grandparents, and continue to gather the same few kinds of mushrooms (even though many more are edible too) which they learned to pick when they were children. Field guides do little to expand their preferences; they only seem to unify mushroom names used throughout the country.<ref>''Ibid.'', p. 332</ref>
[[File:{{#setmainimage:Iwan Ł. Gorochow, Grzyby.jpg}}|thumb|left|"''``From the grove comes the whole company, carrying… wicker baskets full of mushrooms…"''"<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Mickiewicz
| imię = Adam
So which mushrooms are most commonly picked in Poland?
* The '''king bolete''' (''Boletus edulis''), also known as "``penny bun", "``cep" or "``porcino", reigns supreme. In Polish, it’s known as ''"``borowik szlachetny"'' (literally, "``noble pine-forest mushroom") or ''"``prawdziwek"'' ("``true mushroom"). * The '''bay bolete''' (''Imleria badia'') is related, but less prized. Its second-best status is reflected in its Polish name, ''"``podgrzybek"'', which may be translated as "``deputy mushroom" or "``junior mushroom". It’s popular enough in Poland that the Russians call it ''"``polskiy grib"'', or "``Polish mushroom". * The '''golden chanterelle''' (''Cantharellus cibarius''), a bright-yellow trumpet-shaped mushroom with a slightly peppery flavour, called ''"``kurka"'' ("``little chick") or ''"``pieprznik"'' ("``pepper mushroom") in Polish, comes last on the podium. Mickiewicz referred to it as ''"``lisica"'', or "``vixen".
Further spots are taken by:
* various species of '''slippery jacks''' (genus ''Suillus''), which the Poles refer to as ''"``maślaki"'' ("``butterballs") because of their slimy caps;* '''saffron milk cap''' (''Lactarius deliciosus''), a red-brownish mushroom which oozes a milky liquid when damaged; its Polish name is ''"``rydz"'', or "``ginger-coloured mushroom";* '''parasol mushroom''' (''Macrolepiota procera''), or ''"``kania"'' in Polish, whose broad flat cap may be fried in bread crumbs like a pork cutlet;* '''honey mushroom''' (''Armillaria mellea''), small and sweetish, which grows in patches on tree stumps; its Polish name is ''"``opieńka miodowa"'', or "``honey stumper";* some species of '''knight caps''' (genus ''Tricholoma''), known in Polish as ''"``gąski"'', or "``little geese".
Mushroom season lasts from late summer to mid-autumn, but Polish people preserve most of the fungi they collect, so that they can enjoy them all year long. This they do mostly by drying and to a lesser extent by pickling in vinegar (mostly in the case of slippery jacks and other species which don’t lend themselves to drying) or, less traditionally, freezing. The Poles typically gather mushrooms for their own use, but they face competition from professional gatherers who, though less numerous (only 1% of all mushroomers), pick much larger quantities than recreational mushroom hunters do.<ref name=cbos/>
This is the situation today. And what was it like in the past? "``Mushrooming's ancient and decorous rite" is described with great beauty in ''Pan Tadeusz'', the Polish national epic written by Adam Mickiewicz (pronounced {{pron|meets|kyeh|veetch}}) in 1834. So let’s pay yet another visit to the fictional manor of Soplicowo ({{pron|saw|plee|tsaw|vaw}}) and see what kinds of mushrooms the epic’s characters gathered and what use they later put them to.
== “There Were Mushrooms Aplenty” ==
[[File:KostrzewskiFranciszek.Grzybobranie.1860.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|"''``They from breakfast, so noisily bright, turned to mushrooming's ancient and decorous rite…"''"<ref>''Ibid.'', Book III, verses 245–246</ref><br>{{small|Painted by Franciszek Kostrzewski (ca. 1860)}}]]
{{ Cytat
| <poem>A small grove, sparsely wooded, now came into sight;
| tytuł = Pan Tadeusz, or The Last Foray in Lithuania: A Tale of the Gentry during 1811-1812
| url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170707131534/http://www.antoranz.net/BIBLIOTEKA/PT051225/PanTad-eng/PT-Start.htm#CONTENTS
}}, Book III, verses 220–236<br>* The action takes place in early September (of 1811), at the height of mushroom season. The Polish adjective ''"``majowych"'', here mistranslated as "``of May", was actually used by Mickiewicz in the now largely forgotten sense of "``vividly green".
| oryg = <poem>Był gaj z rzadka zarosły, wysłany murawą;
Po jej kobiercach, na wskroś białych pniów brzozowych,
<mobileonly>[[File:Grzyby w Panu Tadeuszu.jpg|thumb|Mushroom species collected in the forest of Soplicowo:<br>chanterelles, king boletes (penny buns),<br>saffron milk caps, stumpers (honey mushrooms),<br>brittlegills and fly agarics (poisonous)]]</mobileonly>
All in all, there are five edible kinds of mushrooms (the fly agaric, here translated as "``fly-bane", is poisonous). The one we haven’t discussed yet is the "'''brittlegill'''", which in fact refers to several species of the genus ''Russula''. Mickiewicz calls them by the word ''"``surojadki"'' ("``eaten raw"), but the Polish term that is more common today is ''"``gołąbki"'', or "``little pigeons". They’re edible, but often ignored nowadays, as their taste is just okay and, having gills rather than pores on the underside of the cap, they can be confused with some toxic species.
== Mushroom War ==
A small digression before we move on: what is this song which calls the king bolete "``the colonel of mushrooms"? According to the poet’s explanatory note, it’s "``a folk song well known in Lithuania about mushrooms marching to war under a king bolete's command. This song describes the characteristics of edible mushrooms."<ref>''Ibid.'', explanatory notes; own translation</ref> Why did the author of a Polish epic draw inspiration from Lithuanian folklore? Because the Grand Duchy of Lithuania is where the story is set; in fact, the epic’s very first words are "``Lithuania, my country".<ref>''Ibid.'', Book I, verse 1</ref> In the poet’s time, the Grand Duchy was a part of the Russian Empire that was inhabited by Polish-speaking nobility (which he belonged to himself), Belarusian or Lithuanian-speaking peasants and Yiddish-speaking Jews.
Anyway, Mickiewicz didn’t quote the song directly. But, as luck would have it, Mickiewiczologists were able to track down, more than a hundred years ago, its original Lithuanian-language lyrics. Here it goes, as noted down by Mr. and Mrs. Angrabaitis in what is now Lithuania’s Marijampolė County:
[[File:Mushroom Wars.png|thumb|"''``Mushrooms all, gather for war, the Great Mushroom War!"''"<br>{{small|Graphic from the video game ''Mushroom Wars 2'' (2016)}}]]
{{ Cytat
| <poem>What did the little hare say when running through the wood?
}}, own translation }}
As you can see, apart from the species mentioned in ''Pan Tadeusz'', such as saffron milk caps, king boletes and stumpers (honey mushrooms), the song also mentioned other edible, if less prized, mushrooms: the '''red-capped scaber stalk''' (''Leccinum aurantiacum'') and the slippery jack. It could also be that the Lithuanian word ''"``zuikužėlis"'' refers, in this case, not to a hare running around the forest, but to any of the mushrooms whose Lithuanian folk names derive from the word for "``bunny". These include the quite edible '''birch bolete''' (''Leccinum scabrum'') and the very inedible '''bitter bolete''' (''Tylopilus felleus''; this one is also known as ''"``zajączek gorzki"'', or "``bitter bunny", in Polish).<ref> {{Cyt
| tytuł = Res Humanitariae
| nazwisko r = Lubienė
}}</ref> In any case, it’s quite possible that in Mickiewicz’s time the song had more verses and served as a real oral field guide to be sung while picking mushrooms.
While we’re digressing, let’s clarify one more thing: why did the Tribune gather fly agarics, the most recognizable of toxic toadstools? Was it just to show his contempt for any forest activity that didn’t involve hunting big game, the only pastime he thought becoming of a nobleman? Or did he intend to poison somebody? Or something. As we already know, [[Epic Cooking: The Perfect Cook#“Hreczecha is My Name”|the Tribune absolutely hated flies]]. And the '''fly agaric''' (''Amanita muscaria''), as both its English and Polish names imply (Polish ''"``muchomor"'' literally means "``fly-bane"), was used as insecticide for centuries. This is how:
{{ Cytat
== Recipës ==
[[File:Tomasz Łosik - Promenade dans la forêt.jpg|thumb|upright|"''``Hands empty came then Telimena, with both of her young gentlemen."''"<ref>A. Mickiewicz, ''op. cit.'', Book III, verses 698–699</ref><br>{{small|Painted by Tomasz Łosik (1883)}}]]
In the end, a bell called the mushroom hunters back to the manor for lunch. Even though originally the hunt had been Telimena’s idea, she must have been, as the Notary observed, looking for mushrooms in the trees, as she returned empty-handed from the wood. So did her two suitors, Thaddeus and the Count. We don’t know who won the Judge’s competition. Nor does the poem mention what happened with the mushrooms others had collected. We can only guess.
[[File:Karolina z Potockich Nakwaska.png|thumb|left|upright=.6|Karolina Nakwaska (1798–1875), author of a home-making book (among other works)]]
Let’s start with the saffron milk caps, which Mickiewicz considered to "``have the best taste". His friend, Karolina Nakwaska, who wrote a home-making book for women, gave a recipë that is perfect in its simplicity.
{{ Cytat
| Take carefully selected, worm-free saffron milk caps, remove the stems; if the caps are too big, then cut them in half. Arrange on a grill over a slow fire, place a small piece of butter in each cap, sprinkle with pepper and salt, and fry without flipping them over. You can use very good olive oil instead of butter. Add chopped parsley and onion. Serve after ten minutes. Saffron milk caps and [other] mushrooms fried simply in butter with onion, pepper and salt, are just perfect.
}}</ref> In farming societies, where foraging is no longer the chief source of food, but still helps expand the menu, this division is not only continued, but also expanded to include a class dimension: hunting, treated increasingly as a sport, is the domain of noblemen, while picking berries, nuts and herbs is left to peasants, especially women. In ''Pan Tadeusz'', we can observe a pair of young peasants – a girl and a boy – collecting cowberries and hazelnuts.
[[File:Wasilij T. Timofiejew, Dziewczę z malinami.jpg|thumb|upright|"''``A pair of cheeks than berries more crimson and fair; they are the maid's who gathers such nuts and fruit there…"''"<ref>''Ibid.'', Book IV, verses 83–84</ref><br>{{small|Painted by Vasily T. Timofeyev (1879)}}]]
{{ Cytat
| <poem>When a branch quivers, brushed,
}} }}
Except that this idealized picture isn’t quite true. There existed a mushroom hierarchy which paralleled the social one: the few choice varieties were reserved for the nobility, while commoners had to content themselves with more or less edible, but certainly less flavourful, species. Mind you, the forest and everything one could find there, belonged to the nobleman. The peasants were usually allowed to obtain certain goods in the lord’s forest, but they had to bring the better species of mushrooms as payment to his estate. One of these species was, without a doubt, the penny bun, which explains why it’s also called "``king bolete" in English, ''"``Herrenpilz"'' ("``lord's mushroom") in German and ''"``borowik szlachetny"'' ("``noble mushroom") in Polish. What other mushrooms did the nobles call dibs on?
{{ Cytat
'''Purchawka''', jak pieprzniczka {{...}}</poem>
| źródło = A. Mickiewicz, ''op. cit.'', Book III, verses 270–279; own paraphrase of M. Weyland's translation }}
| <span style="font-size:92%;"><i><gallery align=right mode=packed heights=105px>File:Russula delica.jpg|"``Brittlegills, silver…"File:Russula claroflava.jpg|"``… yellow,…"File:Russula atropurpurea.jpg|"``… and red,… small goblets with various filled wine"File:Leccinum vulpinum.jpg|"``The foxy's upturned tumbler"File:Craterellus cornucopioides.jpg|"``Horn of plenty: a flute glass designed for champagne" File:Lactarius piperatus.jpg|"``Milk caps,… fine Dresden teacups, all brimful with milk"File:Lycoperdon perlatum.jpg|"``Puffball… like a pepper pot"
</gallery></i></span>
|}</nomobile><mobileonly>{{ Cytat
'''Purchawka''', jak pieprzniczka {{...}}</poem>
| źródło = A. Mickiewicz, ''op. cit.'', Book III, verses 270–279; own paraphrase of M. Weyland's translation }}
<span style="font-size:92%;"><i><gallery align=right mode=packed heights=105px>File:Russula delica.jpg|"``Brittlegills, silver…"File:Russula claroflava.jpg|"``… yellow,…"File:Russula atropurpurea.jpg|"``… and red,… small goblets with various filled wine"File:Leccinum vulpinum.jpg|"``The foxy's upturned tumbler"File:Craterellus cornucopioides.jpg|"``Horn of plenty: a flute glass designed for champagne" File:Lactarius piperatus.jpg|"``Milk caps,… fine Dresden teacups, all brimful with milk"File:Lycoperdon perlatum.jpg|"``Puffball… like a pepper pot"
</gallery></i></span></mobileonly>
We’ve got here, again, various species of brittlegills; judging by the colours, they may be the '''milk-white brittlegill''' (''Russula delica''), '''yellow swamp brittlegill''' (''Russula claroflava'') and '''purple brittlegill''' (''Russula atropurpurea''). The '''foxy bolete''' (''Leccinum scabrum''), which the poet likened to the ''kulawka'', an Old Polish round-bottomed party glass whose contents you have to quaff in a single gulp before you lay it back on the table, is known in Polish as ''"``koźlarz sosnowy"'', or "``pine billy goat". The '''horn of plenty''' (''Craterellus cornucopioides''), also known as "``black trumpet" or "``trumpet of death" (despite being edible), has a relatively unassuming Polish name: ''"``lejkowiec"'', which means "``funnel mushroom". The '''peppery milk cap''' (''Lactarius piperatus'') gets its appellation from its acrid taste and milk-white colour.
<nomobile>[[File:Muchomór.jpg|thumb|left|upright=.6|"''``{{...}} Will, angry, with his foot break it off or demolish; defacing thus the sward, does a thing very foolish."''"<ref>''Ibid.'', Book III, verses 287–289</ref>]]</nomobile>
The beautifully descriptive similë, comparing toadstools to drinkware, brings us to the topic of Old Polish beverages. But let’s leave the subject of what was drunk at Soplicowo for another post. Meanwhile, let me end this post by quoting Mickiewicz’s admonition about how to deal with inedible mushrooms, which is as valid today as it was two centuries ago.
| źródło = A. Mickiewicz, ''op. cit.'', Book III, verses 286–289
}}
<mobileonly>[[File:Muchomór.jpg|thumb|upright=.6|"''``{{...}} Will, angry, with his foot break it off or demolish; defacing thus the sward, does a thing very foolish."''"<ref>''Ibid.'', Book III, verses 287–289</ref>]]</mobileonly>
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