Mushroom picking in Prague

　　Czechs like to pick mushrooms, according to statistics, 70% of Czechs have picked mushrooms.
　　In Prague, you don’t have to go very far to find a forest. There are thousands of hectares of forest in the urban area, so picking mushrooms here does not require a lot of effort, but more like a social activity. People called their friends: “Let’s go, go pick mushrooms!” Wicker baskets, knives, long-sleeved clothes, trousers, high-top rubber shoes… a group of people rushed to the forest.
　　The mushrooms in the Czech Republic are not only rich in variety, but also in large quantity. There are one or two baskets of mushrooms that can be picked casually. Inedible mushrooms can be dried or blanched and frozen. Because mushrooms are so common, the Czech language has many idioms related to mushrooms. For example, there is a saying that is similar to the Chinese “springing bamboo shoots after the rain”, that is, “mushrooms after the rain”. If you are talking about something with someone and someone asks you how the discussion is going, if you say “mushroom”, it means that there is no progress.
　　Every Czech city and region has its own mushroom associations and clubs. These organizations publish annual publications, hold exhibitions of mushroom varieties and organize mushroom picking competitions.
　　Czech books, records, games, and movies are also inseparable from mushrooms. The cartoon “The Story of the Mole” that many people watched when they were young is the Czech writer Zdenek? Miller’s works, one of the episodes is called “The Mole and the Mushroom”. There is also a company in the Czech Republic that specializes in game development called “Amanita”. In my opinion, the name is very appropriate: Amanita fungus is hallucinogenic, and games are also “poisonous”. If you are too addicted to games, you will eventually suffer from them.
　　Living in the Czech Republic for several years, I also learned several local mushroom dishes, such as boiled eggs with mushrooms, and beef stew with mushrooms, which is comparable to the chicken stewed mushrooms in Northeast China. Mushroom and potato soup I have made quite skillfully: soft potatoes, smooth and tender mushrooms, mixed with the aroma of light cream and dill, adding a little vinegar, can neutralize the greasy cream, making the taste three-dimensional and full, paired with Served with hot spring eggs and toast, perfect! This dish will definitely appear on my family’s table during the mushroom season every year.