Swedish nature treasures

The month of September is a time for mushroom and wild berries in the forests of Sweden. But the weather has been erratic and unpredictable that the fabulous forest gold, the "kantarell" or chanterelle mushrooms-most sought after by pickers, already peaked in August. The combined force of heat and rain induced the growth of forest mushrooms with unprecedented speed.

When we had our summer house in Hargshamn, about two and a-half hours from Stockholm, mushroom and berries picking became an obsession. Fishing in the nearby Baltic waters was also an addiction. Swedish summers' long days allowed for many adventures into the forests and waters. Hargshamn, where we had our summer house, borders on the Baltic sea and the waters have an abundant supply of fishes, especially herring.

Kantarell grows in mossy forests, usually in the same areas every year. Many pickers have secret "ställe" or places they will reveal to no one, and every year they revisit the same kantarell places. In the month of October comes another most-sought -after mushroom, the "trattkantarell". They are either brownish or orangish in color and they grow thick in particular areas. There are also black ones but rather rare. One can walk the forest for hours without discovering any, but once you spot one, then you have discovered the whole regiment.

They are secret places held close to the heart of pickers. Such secrets remain closely kept until death and are passed on to the heirs of the estate. It goes like this: " Äskling" (darling) here are the secret chanterelle places, but don't by all means include them in my asset inventory, otherwise the tax authority will come and tax you." Sweden is an overtaxed country such that simple joys we get from nature's treasures, including clean air, we must keep to ourselves only, least the tax eager politicians get the wrong ideas.

Other worthy mushroom competitors are the "Karl Johan" and wild champignons. Hundreds of wild mushrooms populate the Swedish forests although more than half are unedible if not deadly poisonous. Some newspapers accounts told of foreigners taken ill for eating poisonous mushrooms. The worst kind is the "flugsvamp" which comes in spotted white or red. So beautiful yet so deadly evil.

What did I do with baskets of mushroom harvests I take back to Stockholm? The kantarells, including the tratt can be dried. Use some newspaper under that absorbs the moisture. Or, permitting space in the fridge, fry them in their own moisture with some salt. No butter and pepper, as they could change the taste of the mushroom when you saute' them as side dish for your roasts. Pack them according to consumption portions. If you want to eat them fresh, then fry them with little butter, salt and pepper and put them on toast bread. A real delicacy, I promise. But before consumption, clean them with a soft brush because they have some bits of soil and dead leaves from being in the forest.

As for the treasures of the water, fishing herrings called "strömming" is a real summer sport. Its the only time one is allowed seven hooks to a line. The "strömming" which comes and goes in schools are caught not necessarily through the mouth but other parts of the body the hooks happen to hit. In June I used to go out around nine in the morning with my fishing gear and a pail. Since the days were really long, I'd stay fishing until ten, eleven in the evenings or until my husband came looking for me.

Cleaning "strömming" is not my favorite part of the sport. Too many scales, too slimy, and just too many in the pail. That part I normally left to my patient hubby. And the fishing goes on until there's no more space in the freezer. When that happened, I took the whole lot back to Stockholm, including the other catch that our neighbour supplied us. Back in Stockholm, I knocked on my friends' doors and asked: " Hi, want some "gädda"?

And so I spread the joys of picking and catching to non-pickers and non-catchers.