Mushroom picking and mushroom dishes
Mushrooms have been a part of the Slavic food culture for centuries. In the past, mushrooms were picked in Slovenia mostly for sale. They were picked eagerly and diligently as large amounts of mushrooms conferred prestige and recognition on the gatherers within the village community. Mushroom gatherers were often the men who did not pick other fruits in the forest. They brought mushrooms from the villagers to the city markets. Till the 1980's, mushrooms were an important source of income; people tried to sell as many fresh or dried mushrooms as possible. As is the case today, Slovenian mushrooms gatherers most often picked ceps, morels, chanterelles, goat's beards, honey fungi and parasol mushrooms. Small quantities of mushrooms are put into sacks, while larger amounts are placed in baskets or bags so that they do not get crushed. At home, they are spread out to dry on boards or are consumed fresh. In the past, mushrooms were dried in the sun or near the stove overnight. In the last four decades, people started picking mushrooms more for their own consumption. The rapid development of the car industry has resulted in the increased mobility of townspeople who drive out to the countryside much more often than they used to. Mushroom picking has become a very popular way of spending leisure time for urban populations. In the past, mushrooms were consumed by villagers and by wealthier townspeople alike. The less affluent consumed them as everyday dishes, while those who were financially better-off only ate mushrooms as side dishes served with meat. In the past, as today, in the Pohorje Mountains better and more expensive mushrooms are made into soups, braised with onions, or prepared with egg or cream. Small mushrooms, especially the cep, are pickled with vinegar and appreciated as a side dish for roast meat or cold cuts. Mushroom dishes are still very popular in this region today and some new ways of preparation are being used. Fried mushrooms (especially parasol mushrooms and champignons), mushroom risotto, and stuffed mushrooms are very popular and are served also as speciality dishes in many restaurants in Styria. Pickled with vinegar, mushrooms are still popularly served with roast meat and cold cuts. Some new recipes have also been introduced in the Pohorje Mountains, for instance, mushroom dumplings or štruklji, mushroom strudel and mushroom pâte. Various mushroom dishes have become appreciated as speciality dishes, either at home or in restaurants and on tourist farms. Tourist farms in the Pohorje Mountains like to offer their guests different mushroom dishes and they also sell some mushroom products to visitors. On the tourist farm Pri Kovačniku in the village of Planica in Pohorje they prepare for their guests a risotto with mushrooms, mushroom soup and pohorski lonec (Pohorje pot), a newly created dish, which is prepared from local meat, vegetables and mushrooms. As Barbara Štern, the owner of that farm, mentioned, mushroom dishes are a part of the regular menu, but also of the vegetarian menu. Mushroom dishes are on the menus of Pohorje's tourist farms especially in autumn. Mushrooms and mushroom dishes, especially mushroom soup with buckwheat žganci (mush or porridge), are very popular also in the mountain cottages in the Pohorje Mountains. It could be said that nowadays tourism and the local diet in the Pohorje Mountains cannot be imagined without mushrooms. The preparation of many mushroom dishes in Pohorje has become increasingly important for contemporary tourism. They assure tourists that the food has grown in a natural environment, without additives; mushrooms are also a very good example of healthy, seasonal food. The number of different species of mushrooms being picked and prepared in the Pohorje Mountains is increasing. It was, therefore, necessary to introduce legislation forbidding excessive mushroom picking.
