In Search of Polish Mushrooms: The Parasol AKA Kania

​Two mushroom foraging trips to a forest in Poland does not an expert make. And even when you think, “oh, this is great, a mushroom that’s easily recognizable” you really don’t want to get ahead of yourself. 

      Meet the parasol mushroom. In Latin, Macrolepiota procera. In Poland, the regional names for it include  stroszka strzelista, parasolowiec, parasolnik, czubaj, czubak, czubajka kania, gularka, gapa, sowa, or simply, kania, which is what my cousin and her family call it.

     Our trip to the forest in search of mushrooms this year was a bit disappointing - too dry for too long. These parasols appeared in the field behind Johanna’s house. The property is hers but it’s left as an open meadow, thick with grasses, a place where deer feel free to roam about in search of a snack and where parasol mushrooms apparently feel good about the growing conditions because it doesn’t care for very moist soil. Meadows are one of its normal habitats but they also grow on the edges of deciduous and coniferous forests, in forest clearings, roadsides and even in cemeteries- perhaps a testament that everything and everyone knows best where and what’s needed in order to thrive.

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      It’s a mushroom you can’t really miss. It stands tall and proud above the grasses– practically shouting out its presence to the world and the cap really does look like a small umbrella, which can reach 4 to 12 inches in diameter.  Sometimes it stands alone without any others around but little Jasiek and his mom Johanna counted 32 of them scattered throughout the meadow! We picked almost all of them which my cousins shared with friends and neighbors. After cleaning them carefully they can be pan fried in butter - plain, without any extra fixings, or dipped in a thin batter of egg, flour and milk or in egg and breadcrumbs much like we do large portobello mushrooms. According to Polish bloggers you won’t find this mushroom offered in market stalls or as a dish in a restaurant. Its delicate taste is a much enjoyed treat by mushroom foragers.  

​     Extra parasols can be dried in the oven for future use to crumble into soup for added flavor and even pulverized to use in making mushroom sauces, as do my cousins.

The true parasol has some identifying characteristics: brown patches on the cap surface, gills underneath; the snakelike skin appearance on the stem that also has a woolly ring just below the cap that moves relatively easily along the stem.

Like all mushrooms it has its look-alikes that are poisonous so while I've increased my knowledge a smidgen, I've a far, far way to go before I move out of amateur status.
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Thank you to the real mushroom experts: my cousin Jadzia, her husband Krzysiek and their children Johanna and Michał for a fun learning experience about kania, aka the parasol mushroom.

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For more about the mushrooms of Poland try The Polish Country Kitchen Cookbook, Hippocrene Books, Inc. 2012.