As a child, Barbora Batokova foraged for mushrooms in her native Czechia with her grandmother at their family’s weekend cottage in the country. Often, they were joined by the rest of her relatives under the cool canopy of their familial woods, hunting and harvesting fungi. They even cooked and preserved their finds together as a family tradition.
Unlike many Americans, families from the Czech Republic have almost no fear of mushrooms, and foraging for edible fungi — and the knowledge to do so safely — is embedded into the culture, passed from one generation to the next.
Western Pennsylvania shares a similar climate with Czechia, so much of Batokova’s childhood knowledge of mushrooms translated to her new home. However, with mushrooms, there’s always a learning curve. She immersed herself in mushroom hunting around Pittsburgh by taking photos, conducting research, asking local sources, identifying sister species to her native home, and embracing Pittsburgh’s local mycology community. Now, she has a dedicated Instagram audience of more than 100,000 mushroom-loving followers.
Batokova spoke with Pittsburgh City Paper on the first day of spring. She runs an educational online community titled Fungiwoman, offers guided mushroom walks, and serves as the president of the Western Pa. Mushroom Club. Now, she hopes to offer foraging beginners an easy-to-use, comprehensive resource with her new book, Hunting Mushrooms: How to Safely Identify, Forage and Cook Wild Fungi.
“I hope to educate and provide a good resource for identification of major mushroom groups for beginners, to help identify them based on looks and where they grow,” says Batokova. “And I’d like to show people how beautiful mushrooms are so they can be inspired to appreciate nature, care for the environment, and understand the mycodiversity around us. When people create relationships with places that they love, they care more to protect the environment.”
Through her new book, Batokova hopes to teach beginners to identify prized specimens like chanterelles, king boletes (while avoiding poisonous boletes), lion’s mane, morels, and chicken of the woods. Each profile details the species’ unique features, as well as where and when it grows, so readers will have all the information needed to begin correctly verifying these fungi.
Hunting Mushrooms: How to Safely Identify, Forage and Cook Wild Fungi will be released for sale on Tue., April 9 by Page Street Publishing.
The handy guide features beautifully detailed photos, in-depth profiles of over 25 local mushrooms, key visual references to help keep new foragers safe, and old-world recipes for cooking and preserving foraged treasures. The new book has been praised by Louie Schwartzberg, the director of Fantastic Fungi, as “a tapestry of visual wonder, personal storytelling, a profound connection to the natural world.” Adam Haritan, host of the popular YouTube channel Learn Your Land, hails Hunting Mushrooms as “A beautifully crafted introduction to the world of fungi and an essential resource for aspiring foragers.”
As a person who learned to forage with family, Batokova hopes to inspire others to connect while hunting and gathering mushrooms. However, she also realizes foraging can be an amazing activity for introverts. “Foraging can be a solo activity — a way to reset and get grounded for people who energize by spending time alone. But it can also be a family affair to spend time together, reconnect, and create memories. And it can be a gateway to make new friends.”
New book offers mushroom hunting tips for Western Pa. locals
