Mushroom foraging with fungi expert Gary Goldman

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R550p.p.

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If you go down to the woods today, you’re in for a BIG surprise. That is, provided you’re following Cape Town’s very own Mushroom Fundi Gary Goldman. Armed with nothing but baskets, boots and pocket knives you’ll head into the forest and learn how to track down elusive porcini, pine rings, slippery Jacks and more. How’s that for working up an appetite?

Highlights
Always wanted to know which mushrooms you can eat?
Forage your own mushrooms for breakfast
Enjoy an early morning hike in the forest with a small group (10 or fewer) of fellow mushroom enthusiasts.
Gary will help you identify edible mushrooms
Gary will demonstrate how to gently remove it, clean it off, and how to store it in your basket for safe keeping

Overview

It’s hard to comprehend the extent of mushroom fanatic Gary Goldman’s passion until you pull on a pair of hiking shoes and start heading into the woods with him. He’s like the proverbial kid in a candy store, scrambling over boulders, turning over wooden stumps, and scratching around mulch on the forest floor in search of the edible treasure.

“I’ve been doing this for ten years,” explains Gary, who became the fun guy of fungi (sorry, not sorry) after quitting the rat race and taking up walking in various forest in and around Cape Town, where he saw mushrooms around every turn. Since starting out, he’s personally identified and eaten 29 different species in the area, and he’s still finding new ones. “A couple of weeks ago, I found my first shrimp russula mushroom. It tastes just like shrimp!”.

Years of experience also means that Gary has familiarised himself with the different traits of edible wild mushrooms, whether they “bruise yellow” or “bleed orange” – tips he’ll share with you depending on which shrooms you stumble across. Since mushroom growth is dependent on the weather, and since Gary has pretty much figured out exactly where to hit pay dirt on any given day, each foraging experience and location is different.

Think of it as a hyper exclusive pop-up that you’re only told the venue of the day before. Whether the fertile ground happens to be in Rondebosch Common, Wynberg Park, Bishops Court, Constantia, or a few other secret mushroom spots (Gary phones you the night before with the address), you’d better arrive with your game face on: it can be quite a stiff hike before you luck out on some loot. But the trek is so worth it, Gary maintains. “I guarantee you: as soon as you find your first porcini, you’ll be absolutely hooked to mushroom picking for the rest of your life.”

Details

Included
Not Included
Important Information
Itinerary

Informative foraging walk and talk in the forest
A selection of foraged mushrooms to take home to cook. Yum!

Transfers

Small groups of up to 10-15 people
A good quality folding knife is essential
A basket to collect your mushrooms
Good walking or hiking shoes
Raincoat in the case of rain
You need to be reasonably fit

PLEASE NOTE THE ITINERARY IS AN INDICATION ONLY. THE ACTUAL TIME AND PLACE ARE AGREED A DAY OR TWO PRIOR TO YOUR EXPERIENCE DIRECTLY BY GARY, BASED ON THE AREA WITH MOST MUSHROOM AVAILABILITY AND THE TIME OF SUN RISE.

+/- 6h00 (15 minutes before sunrise): The day starts at the meeting point which will be confirmed by Gary the prior evening, dependent on where the mushrooms are most likely to be discovered.
06:15: Gary will start off with a quick introduction to the world of mushroom foraging and then lead the walk to his secret mushroom spots and give informative talks all along the way. He’ll demonstrate how to gently remove the mushrooms from the forest floor, how to clean them, and how to store them in your basket for safe keeping. You’ll then hunt for your first mushroom on your own, being careful not to stray too far away from the group. If you are not sure of what you have found, Gary will help you identify the mushroom before you remove it from the ground.
06:15 – 08:00+: You will end your foraging experience after a 3 to 4hour foraging walk. The aim is to wrap up between 11.30 am and noon, depending on the success of your finds.

What eatsplorers are saying

Highly recommend the mushroom foraging experience with Gary x totally loved it this morning and his knowledge is incredible.

Jennifer Cunnington

Review

We would love to hear how your experience was so please leave a comment and review!

Review

We would love to hear how your experience was so please leave a comment and review!

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R550p.p.

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