Rural & noble
The use of mushrooms for culinary purposes was the domain not only of rural cuisine (in which it diversified a poor diet; during the season mushrooms were an everyday ingredient of a diet), but also an element of noble social entertainment – a family, multi-generational form of play. Although – surprisingly – there are not many descriptions of mushroom picking in fiction. The most famous one probably comes from the Pan Tadeusz epic:
There were mushrooms aplenty: the lads chanterelles gather,
In Lithuanian song praised more than is any other,
These are maidenhood’s emblems, no worm will them blight,
And more strange, on them will not an insect alight.
After slender boletus the young ladies throng.
Which is famed as the colonel of mushrooms in song.
– A. Mickiewicz,op. cit., Book III, verses 260
The memories of Nela Rubinstein, wife of the legendary pianist Artur Rubinstein, also prove how strongly the tradition of mushroom picking was rooted in family traditions. As she wrote in her famous Nela's Cookbook:
I remember our whole family going mushroom picking in Iłgów. Our group always followed our parents. It was done properly. Each child had their own basket into which they put the mushrooms they had collected; however, always only after consulting the mother or governess. During our stay in Russia, we spent the summer at a dacha near Moscow, which was also full of mushrooms. To this day, I react to the typical weather that favours mushrooms. I know when there may be a lot of mushrooms, and I also know where to look for them. […] anyway, what can I say, I eat mushrooms in various forms almost every day. […] I also love all traditional mushroom and champignon dishes, regardless of how they are prepared: stewed, fried or baked. I could write a separate book on mushrooms.
Unfortunately, Rubinstein's separate book on mushrooms was never written.