Mangalore, June 20: Like another food items search for mushrooms is very common.
The quest is more in places like agricultural lands, gardens and hilly regions.
Mushrooms are considered to be very tasty food but its selection is intricate (complicate). Poisonous mushrooms are also there and therefore who are in search of mushrooms should be an expert and those possess joints are not poisonous.
There are two types of mushrooms. One is egg type (Oval in shape) and another is umbrella type. Oval type mushrooms are available more in places like Udipi and Kundapur and in Dakshina Kannada mostly umbrella type mushrooms are available.
Many types of mushrooms:
Mutte Mushrooms, Suliru mushrooms, Hay mushrooms (Baihullu) Dry grass (Mulihullu) mushrooms. Mushrooms are being consumed by all the people regardless of their status i.e. poor and rich during monsoon. These mushrooms are born on the trees between trunks and branches where there is a cool area but mushrooms which born on Mango and cashew nut trees are good for consumption.
Nowadays people have started growing mushrooms as commercial plants as it yields revenue but taste of the mushrooms which are available during monsoon is exclusively different from the commercially grown mushrooms. Generally people are always hunting for mushrooms.
In rural villages it is believed by the people that by using a small iron rod at the time of preparation of Saaru (similar to Sambhar) poisonous contents of the mushrooms if any, will be absorbed by the iron piece. Mushrooms are being hunted by smelling of their fragrance and at the time of thunder it is available in abundant. Maximum life span of the mushrooms is from morning till evening.
It is also believed that under the Perge family mushrooms cobras are living and over all nowadays mushrooms are hardly visible to see.
