Mushroom Picking in Poland
Last Updated on Aug 21, 2024
People who know me know that I adore mushrooms. I could eat different varieties of mushrooms every day and never get bored of them and so do many Poles. One might ask, what’s so special about mushrooms and why are Poles so obsessed with it? At first sight, mushrooms are just simple veggies that grow in the forest.
Wild mushrooms actually cause a lot of controversies. Americans mostly eat cultivated button mushrooms and portobellos found safely wrapped in supermarket aisles. In some states wild mushrooms are even illegal to sell!
In Poland, where I grew up, mushrooms are basic ingredients for many traditional dishes due to the popularity of mushrooming. Everyone goes mushroom picking at least once a year to collect, dry, and pickle those lovely fungi.
Here’s your guide to mushroom picking in Poland.
Foreigners are often scared of mushroom picking because they believe it’s easy to pick a poisonous one. Well, let me tell you how easily you can recognize if your mushroom can be eaten or not. Every Pole learns that fairly quickly as a child by looking at books with photos of mushrooms.
There are 47 species on the government’s list of mushrooms approved for food circulation. The most popular types include chanterelles, boletes, bay boletes, saffron milk caps, larch boletes, birch boletes and parasol mushrooms.
Every mushroom has a part under the cup called the hymenophore that’s either a lamella (striped) or tubes (flat).
Mushrooms with tubes are edible and those with lamella can be… except that it would be your last time 😉 However, if your mushroom is red with white dots, there is no reason to check because it’s a fly agaric – the most poisonous of all mushrooms.
Bottom: edible
Mushroom Picking as a Family Activity
In the 7.6 million hectares supervised by State Forests, no certifications are required for recreational picking (with the exception of national parks and areas with special protections). You don’t need permission to go picking nor do you have to pay for it or need a guide.
If you’re new to it or foreign, I recommend starting foraging with someone experienced. You must get up early and drive to the forest, usually a day or two after it rained. Later in the day all the mushrooms will be gone.
Every autumn families in Poland go mushroom picking together as a family. As a child, I remember standing next to the car and waiting for my parents to bring big wicker baskets full of mushrooms to clean out of the dirty.
If you don’t find enough to satisfy you and prepare you for Christmas time, there are always people selling mushrooms along with wild blueberries on the road.
What to Do With the Wild Mushrooms Afterwards?
After a successful outing, mushrooms had to be either used over a few days, dried or pickled, which made the whole house smell nice.
The whole point, however, is to save enough for Christmas time in Poland. Mushroom soup is a traditional Christmas Eve soup and there are also pierogi and other goodies that require wild mushrooms.
Most Popular Polish Mushroom Dishes
1. Placki ziemniaczane & kluski with mushroom sauce – Chanterelle / Porcini
Placki are potato pancakes that can be served with either goulash or mushroom sauce. The best sauce is a chanterelle (kurki) sauce that takes over every dish in Poland during the summer.
2. Pierogi – traditionally with Porcini
Pierogi are well-known all over the world. Those amazing dumplings can be filled with pretty much anything, but the best combination is cabbage with onion and porcini.
3. Pickled Bay Bolete mushrooms
Pickled mushrooms are extremely popular for Christmas, therefore they have to be prepared some time in advance.
My next favorite Polish dish after pierogi would be kluski now 😀
I love kluski. Especially Silesian ones with a hole in the middle 😀
Love the picture of you as a kid! Adorable!
Thanks for sharing
Aww thanks!
That’s a lot of mushroom in the picture with you!
It wasn’t even a lot actually. Sometimes we’ve got more than 10 big bags!
I know something about your mushroom addiction. I can see them every freaking day in our fridge :D!! What a cute picture of you holding some mushrooms Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!
Mushrooms… mushrooms everywhere 😀 I should change the name of my blog 😀
Hey, few weeks ago all my non-Polish friends laughed a lot when I published a photo on Instagram, showing my companions picking mushrooms in the woods. I didn’t realize this activity is so funny for foreigners untill this Fall. Even someone from UK was surprised. I wonder if there are different laws and customs regarding mushrooms in different parts of the World. 😉
Such a cute photo of you with the mushrooms!
Thanks dear!
Hahah, for a long time I thought that I was the only one to write about mushroom hunting in Poland 😉
https://travelingilove.com/mushroom-hunting/
Finding your post really made my day! Thanks! 🙂
Haha, you’re my idol! I thought the same thing about my post, but it seems like there are other mushroom fans!
great post! I like mushroom hunting but my foreign friends don’t get it. one thing, your rule concerning which type of mushroom is edible is not etirely correct. Easiest example for that is the rubroboletus satanas (in Polish: borowik szatański), which is flat and poisonous
Not entirely true, it is bitter and it is not tasty but you cannot die by eating it, it’s not poisonous.
I’m from Poland and love mushrooms too, even though I live in Australia now.
Mushrooms forever! <3
I simply discovered another perfect approach to ingest enchantment mushrooms it is delicious, delicate on the stomach and assimilates quicker.
Eating mushrooms and truffles crude as they are is the most well-known to devour them. Be that as it may, while we cherish the taste, it’s unquestionably not the widely adored tidbit. Exceptionally while ingesting a bigger measurements, the taste can turn into an issue. Tea makes it simple to include nectar or whichever sweetener you pick. R
Nice post and info. I found out that some mushroom are safe and some are not I read an article https://www.trufflemagic.com/blog/are-shrooms-safe/ and upon reading it I discover that one kind of mushroom called magic mushroom is safe and can be used in different ways like in medical purpose and some other things.I think its nice that even in mushroom we can discover a lot of things.
When I was a kid my father (who came from Poland after WW2) and I constantly picked mushrooms in the fall. Sadly he died when I was 16 and being young I had other things on my mind. Now in my 60s I regret not keeping up on it and now am afraid of guessing. The 2 types we mostly picked were (pardon the spelling) mashlaki and potpinki and some were found near Elm stumps. Now that I’m retired I would love to hunt these but can’t find the English translations so I can look them up in guides. Can you help me out? They (my parents) came from the Lublin area. I also can remember many families going out for fall picnics together and picking. Any assistance would be appreciated.
I know exactly which mushrooms you’re talking about. Maslaki are known in English as ‘larch boletes’ and podpinki are ‘honey fungus’. Hope this helps 🙂
Great post. i adore your love for mushrooms. Never thought that there are many types of mushrooms and there are people who go mushroom picking.
Obviously you haven’t done much research on mushrooms if you think the fly agaric (Amanita muscaria) is the most poisonous. So please before you write or comment on anything so sensitive check first.
Clearly, you’re struggling with reading with understanding. In Poland this is the most poisonous mushroom and 90% of recorded mushroom poisoning are from it. The article refers to mushrooming in Poland. Go be a troll somewhere else 😉
Hi Anna, I am in the States yet but planning to be in the Sudecka area in Poland. Enjoyed your clues about edible mushrooms! Are you able to suggest a book to help learn the mushrooms of this area? Thank you.
I could suggest many I have at home, but unfortunately, these are old Polish books that haven’t been translated into English. However, when you get to Poland you can pick up a local book with pictures from a bookstore 🙂
Hello My hubby n I will be in Warsaw and krakow any chances you can connect me with someone to do foraging in September?? Look me up Instagram .
Hi! Do you know any guides or tours happening in Poland to go mushroom foraging? Thank you for your blog it was a great to read 🙂
Honestly not really. Nobody in Poland would ever get a guide to go foraging, it’s just something we do on our own.
Can you take us forage in krakow Sept 3
I don’t do tours I’m afraid.
I really enjoyed reading your post. I never met my Grandma but my mother told she was an avid mushroom enthusiast!! She lived in Silesia as did my mom. When it comes to mushrooms there are so many kinds it’s wild. Amanita is poisonous if raw…but not if prepared properly and dried. I take Amanita muscaria powder in a capsule, it can help things like PTSD and even restless leg syndrome! it has an effect of raising Gabba in the body which helps reduce stress. That’s so amazing that mushrooms are such a huge part of Polish heritage and culture!