One day I got interested in the UK/American difference of using rubbish versus garbage as words for trash. IIRC both were almost equal in terms of age, but actually had different meanings. Rubbish was inert waste like rubble (same origin), whereas garbage referred to stuff like offal. I found it interesting that each side of the pond had picked one and stuck with it, especially when we think of cultural attitudes to waste.
In much of America’s history, supplies were in short, well, supply! Take quilts for example: in the UK whole cloth quilting seems to have been more common than patchwork as large pieces of cloth were available from the mills. Worn cloth would be kept for mending, or sold on to people further down the economic chain. In the USA patchwork quilts became the standard because every little scrap had to have as much life given to it as possible. So why then, did the country with the thrifty history, choose the trash word that refers to organic waste? When that can be fed to dogs or made into headcheese or rotted down to make fertiliser?
茸 mushroom. usually kana
マッシュルーム mushroom
キノコガリ mushroom gathering
菌輪fairy ring
椎茸 shitake. usually kana
松茸 highly sought spicy variety
木耳 cloud ear mushroom
原茸 field mushroom
えのき茸 enoki
袋茸 paddy straw mushroom
橅湿地 brown beech mushroom
杏茸 chanterelle
ひら茸 oyster
エリンギking trumpet
more to come! I love the varieties of mushrooms in Japan. I happen to live in one of the hearts of production in the US, and yet prices are higher and varieties are less.
Fantastic! I didn’t know there was a Japanese term for this.
For anyone who doesn’t know what this is, it’s a circle of mushrooms, sometimes made by the death of a tree. As the fungus spreads down from the trunk to the roots, mushrooms fruit in an ever spreading circle. It’s said that they’re an entrance point to the world of the fae.
In UK supermarkets we only really get white mushrooms, chestnut mushrooms, and portobello mushrooms (the big ones you can stuff easily). I did once grow a small crop of oyster mushrooms on a bag of straw. The garden here has a large eucalyptus which needs trimming, and plenty of shady areas, so perhaps the farmer could be persuaded to start of shitake.
I’ve just remembered that when I lived on a site with a lot of elder trees we used to get blooms of jelly ear fungus. Here’s a short video I made of some https://youtu.be/Uv5AuB2Vt1A
In the autumn in Sweden, it’s pretty common for supermarkets to sell what locals decide they won’t eat themselves. So you’ll also find the wild variety of white mushrooms, oyster mushrooms, golden chanterelle, funnel chanterelle, shiitake, portabello, even hedgehog mushroom sometimes if you’re lucky! But Swedes do love mushrooms!
My personal favorite is something that is no longer recommended for human consumption, but once a year or so shouldn’t be too bad for you >_>: the stenmurkla (Gyromitra esculenta - a poisonous mushroom that needs careful preparation*. And even then, not all of the poison can be extracted, so that’s why the official health guidelines have changed for this one. But, it is absolutely delicious!
*it’s recommended to first dry the mushrooms in a well-ventilated room (because the poison goes into the air) for several weeks. Then you’ll soak the dried mushrooms in lots of water 45min<. Throw away the water and repeat again with lots of water. Again throw away the water and bring the mushrooms to the boil in a pot with lots of water. Again throw away this water and rinse the mushrooms well in cold water. Now you can use them in your cooking, but don’t eat this treat more than once a year since there’s still poison left in the mushroom.
I do find other mushrooms in the supermarkets. I’ve seen shitake and a couple other japanese mushrooms, mixed wild mushrooms and those narrow long ones that come in bunches in tesco for sure. I’m sure the big waitroses would have lots.
Gone on a fungus foray once at a national trust but we came back with very little and none good enough for an omelet! That year they had a faerie ring hunt I think. Some people found really pretty pink, orange and yellow ones. We only saw a few partial ones.
One of my colleagues found a giant puff once. Those will feed a few people for a while: you need an ostrich egg for the omelet hehe.
I only shop at LIDL really (discount supermarket for non-europeans) so mushroom choice is very limited
But when I lived in London I used to love to go to Borough Market and see the mushroom stall piled high with all sorts of amazing varieties. The Vietnamese supermarket near me had stuff from all over east Asia, including a few different Japanese mushrooms, very cool.
Me too! The last year I lived in Wales (year before Japan) we had so many of them near us!
As you can see, they’re pretty popular with slugs. This year’s weather has been so odd; May and June seem to have had their weather switched, so I’m not sure what the situation will be like now.
Indeed. It’s been really cold the whole of may and into june - then became really hot! And now it’s really dry as well (not much rain really for months) - not good for the plants or mushrooms. I hope it rains soon for the lovely plants and for the mushrooms that need the moisture!
Here in Wales the month of May was baking hot, getting up to 28°c I think. Stuff was suffering in the polytunnel. June so far has been mainly rainy, which was needed because we’ve had the driest spring on record.
Now tell me, wtf am I supposed to do with all this lettuce???
I was delighted when I found 菌輪! I think everyone associates fairies with the British aisles, so I thought of you right away. Japanese fairies are a whole other breed …
I have thought about asking the pub that’s on the main road if an honesty box in their car park would be a possibility. Our place is over a kilometre down a rough track with 3 gates for sheep, so rather off putting, and where we join the main road is a dangerous corner with no place to stop.
I’ve been pretty happy about my self-grown lettuce - after all, I want to avoid grocery shopping when I can nowadays. >> I’m very thankful for my sweat peas and spinach because of that! ^^
Dinner will be ready soon, lamb from the land with homegrown greens (broccoli leaves)
I would also like to see 庭服. Most days I wear jeans, a large mens long sleeve button down shirt, and steel toe boots. Today required me to break out my Japanese cycling poncho.
