Ethnomycology in Europe: The Past, the Present, and the Future

Abstract

Ethnomycology inquiries into the cultural, ceremonial, and medicinal uses of mushrooms, besides their consumption as food. As such, these studies can shed light on how traditional societies exploited biodiversity in their territories while preserving it, opening a window on “the world until yesterday.” This chapter presents a review of ethnomycological research conducted in Europe in the last 20 years or so, with a particular emphasis on the culinary use of mushrooms but not being limited to this aspect. The underlying question that animated our endeavor is: Is it still possible to conduct these works nowadays in such a developed part of the world, where apparently “traditions” play a rapidly decreasing role in our modern societies, and are being so swiftly and irremediably lost? Or rather ethnomycology in these territories tends to converge with scientific knowledge, that forms the basis of current mushrooms practices in most places? We display and discuss examples demonstrating that both possibilities coexist. Recent ethnomycological studies focused on long neglected European territories such as the Balkans, and on the habits of specific ethnic minorities. On the other hand, more contemporary trends regarding mushrooms—based on scientific rather than traditional knowledge—are discernible in many parts of Europe, including their use as cosmetics and nutraceuticals, the increasing attention to the potential biological and medical relevance of many species, and the rapid and sometimes dramatic transition from “mycophoby” to “mycophily” that took place in some regions.