The mycologist said that even those who were not active mushroomers before are now getting inspired by fungus fandoms on social media and trying their eye in the forests.
At the moment, Latvia is on a dry spell so mushrooms are few and far between, but proud pickers are showing off their scarlet elfcups this year more than other years, said Meiere. "This mushroom has been in Latvia for a long time, it used to be in the Red Book [of protected species]. It disappeared from the book because little was known about it. It grows early in the spring when mycologists and mushroomers don't go in the forest yet," Meiere said.
"We mycologists have been saying for a long time that it is edible but it is kind of bland, fit more for decoration," adding that she has seen people share recipes on social media. "I think [the taste] depends more on the [added] onion and cream flavor because the mushroom itself doesn't have much flavor," she added.
She said that some years ago, the fashion spotlight was on the chicken of the woods when everyone wanted to taste it and share it on social media, but now it appears to be out and the elfcup – in.
We also have a story about the scarlet elfcup back from February when it had just started to appear.
