Before you head out...rules for beginners!

Since all of my recipes start with: “Put some proper shoos on, take a basket and go out to the forest…” it was appropriate of me to give you at least some basic advices on what to do before you head out. Next advices are very familiar to the other mushroom pickers but for the newbies and for the sake of making sure that we all remember what is important and how to be safe, I am writing them down. Can’t hurt, right? 

First rule of a mushroom picking: Pick only mushrooms that you know are eatable for sure. If you are not sure in what you found, put it aside in separate container or a box, that you would use only for a doubtful specie. Later on, you can consult literature and ask for help from someone you consider specialist in this area (you can even write to me and i would be glad to help). Everything you picked for eating, clean up nicely from all the leafs and dirt, and carry in a baskets or bags made of natural material (paper, cotton, wattle...). Do not pick mushrooms that are near busy roads or industrial area. You could poison your self with heavy metals (not the music, we are talking about chemicals) and other poisons that mushrooms suck in from polluted environment. If the forest is near the road, walk at least 100m into the forest before you start picking mushrooms for eating.

Second rule of mushroom picking: Mushrooms should be cut with knife in a process only if they grow on a tree next to the tree bark. If they grow on the ground easily twist them clockwise until it separates from the grownd. Smaller specie such is chanterelle for example, who's mycelium (vegetative part of fungus or fungus-like bacterial colony, consisting of  a mass of branching, thread-like hyphae) is very close to the ground or in the ground, it is better to cut out with a knife, as close as you can to the ground, than while trying to pick the mushroom destroy. Do not tear them or kick them. Mycelium is just a part of a fungus that lives hidden from us in a tree bark, in the ground or in forest litter, which we should preserve so it can give us mushrooms in seasons to come. Do not pick to young or to old specimens. Always leave enough mature specimens to renew the yield. Pick only what you need. 

Third rule of mushroom picking: Do not leave litter of industrial origin such are plastic and metals, in the forest. Bacteria and fungi can't degrade it! 

Forth rule of mushroom picking: Mushrooms after the hunt, clean up as soon as you can. Their proteins are easily degradable. If you leave them for over 12hrs after picking, without thermally processing, they start to spoil. If you eat this kind of mushroom you will have symptoms as if you ate spoiled meet. In thermal processing we include putting them in the freezer as well.  

Fifth rule of mushroom picking: Every new mushroom that you want to put on the menu first try. If after 24 hrs you do not have any type of reaction (allergic or other) it is safe for consuming. Do not eat mushrooms everyday or in huge quantities, that can cause saturation in organism. Mushrooms are most of all spice and addition to the meal. On a weekly basis you can eat 1/2-1kg various mushrooms, but with some breaks. Proteins from the mushrooms are digestible only 70%, and chitin, which is conducted in their cell wall, dissolves bacteria from small intestine. This is why overeating mushrooms can cause bloating. 
To summerise: If you are not sure what you have picked, you better throw it away. It is better to throw away eatable mushroom than to randomly consume poisonous one, out of ignorance. Remember: In a world of mushrooms, you should enter with baby steps. But it is rewarding!

Translated from a website: http://www.tehnologijahrane.com/knjiga/gljive-vodic-kroz-svet-jestivih-i-otrovnih-gljiva