Mushrooms: Part #1
Loving from afar, invisible networks and many recent experiences
Matsutake, they say, smells like village life and a childhood visiting grandparents and chasing dragonflies. It recalls open pinewoods, now crowded out and dying. Many small memories come together in the smell. It brings to mind the paper dividers on village interior doors, one woman explained; her grandmother would change the papers every New Year and use them to wrap the next year’s mushrooms. It was an easier time before nature became degraded and poisonous.
-Anna Tsing
I never ate mushrooms growing up, and I didn’t plan on starting—until a friend from university introduced me to the world of mycelium. Mycelium is the underground, thread-like network that forms the vegetative part of fungi. It’s this hidden part of mushrooms that first sparked my curiosity. Halfway into reading The Mushroom at the End of the World for dhoop’s book club also added to this curiosity.1
Mushrooms, as I came to learn, are the philanthropists of the natural world. They form symbiotic relationships with trees, exchanging nutrients for carbohydrates. Acting as transmitters in the 'Wood Wide Web,' mushrooms enable trees to communicate during times of stress or abundance. Beyond their role as mediators, they also break down organic matter, feeding on it and enriching the soil, which helps retain and even build soil health. As a result of having this complex network, mushrooms also assist in carbon sequestration, capturing and storing large amounts of carbon from the atmosphere.
If all of this was not enough, edible mushrooms are nutritious, widely accessible and sometimes mind-altering foods (more on that later—think chocolates and enlightenment). The peak of my curiosity, though, was Arvind’s passion to create a bio-material using mycelium.2 His Providence home storage was a makeshift lab, filled with mycelium growing on coffee grounds, wood shavings and whatnot. His tunnel vision to create bio-material using mycelium was so specific that I forgot to ask him if he ever ate mushrooms. When I remembered to ask, he laughed and replied, “hahaha I still don't. Should start.”
Like Arvind, I do not eat mushrooms as part of my daily diet. Like him, I let my fascination be limited to the work that they do. It wasn’t until I reached out to Biplab Mahato, a mushroom grower and the founder of Shroom.in for an interview that I bought my first jar of Lion’s Mane powder. He said, “What’s….fascinating is that mushrooms share about 50% of their DNA with humans. This genetic similarity underscores their importance, as they contain unique compounds that enhance our health in various ways, from boosting immunity to improving mental clarity. Understanding mushrooms is about recognising our deep biological connection with them and their role in maintaining Earth’s balance.”
And, the mushroom is in no way a new culinary discovery in India. A lot of indigenous communities live in close relationships with the land and forest, foraging and consuming mushrooms as part of their daily diets. “Foraging mushrooms in Orissa and Jharkhand is a traditional practice deeply rooted in local culture….these regions, rich in forests, offer a variety of wild mushrooms, particularly during the monsoon season. Varieties like Termitomyces (Putka or Rugda), Agaricus (Khukdi), and Russula (Bhaunra) are highly prized for their nutritional and economic value”, pointed out Biplab who has a mushroom farm in Jamshedpur.
I am still learning about mushrooms in India and their relationship with people, one thing that holds true is the field of Ethnomycology i.e., the study of the role of fungi in the human social experience, is vastly unexplored in India and it might answer a lot of wicked questions about food, wild food, communities, their relationship to land and climate change.
My experience of talking to people about mushrooms has been similar to what Alicia Kennedy described, “Everyone you talk to who is in the mushroom business is wildly enthusiastic about their work..” Again, it was Mahato’s deep passion that convinced me to try out something he enjoyed, and I should too.
This time, I started from scratch, letting mushrooms become a mediator between me and the natural world. What was invisible to the eye for the longest time suddenly became visible because I started to look for it — every moist nook and corner in the streets of Mumbai or a walk in my neighbourhood park days after incessant rains in Jaipur..mushrooms were everywhere.3 I started seeing mushrooms everywhere. And as far as consuming is concerned, my pantry has jars of Lion’s Mane powder and Cordyceps Militaris. I ate a creamy risotto topped with chanterelle mushroom at Aamanns (Copenhagen).4
When I am eating mushrooms, I tell myself that I am eating trees, forests and lands.
We were supposed to read ‘The Mushroom at the End of the World’ by Anna Tsing last month, but due to some issues, we had to move it to October. I am super excited to read it with a bunch of people who wrote back saying how much they are looking forward to the discussion.
During my last trip to Jaipur, we had 3 days of incessant rains resulting in mushrooms sprouting in Smriti Van. I don’t think I ever spotted mushrooms in Jaipur, but then again, I never looked hard.
In the first week of September, I went to Copenhagen and tried Aamanns’ risotto topped with Chanterelles mushrooms. It was heavenly! My sister who lives in Sweden told me how people keep their Chanterelles mushroom foraging spots a secret!
And that’s everything for this week.
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