AVANT GARDENER
Did you know that the Philippines is home to different types of mushrooms, many of which are edible but not all of them included in local cuisine?
This is what Marco Lobregat found out when he co-authored “The Mushroom Explorer’s Guide to the Cordilleras” with Sagada native Chris Angway. “I discovered [that] there was foraging in the Philippines,” he said.
The book, produced with the help of the Forest Foundation and published by the Manila Bulletin, is part community introduction, part identification manual, part travel guide, and part cookbook.
Lobregat is known as one of the folks behind Ministry of Mushrooms, a mushroom farming and marketing company he set up with friends in 2009 that put these edible fungi front and center in Philippine pop consciousness. Suddenly, mushroom farming became cool. He recalls browsing the grocery looking for ideas on a high yielding crop that could be grown in a small space when he noticed mushrooms. “Some of the most expensive… products on the shelf, [even] today, are mushrooms,” he shared.
Back then, most of them were grown in neighboring countries with the same climate. “If they can grow it. Why can't we?” he said. “We really kind of wanted to galvanize a mushroom industry in the Philippines.”
Lobregat has always loved going to Sagada (“I wrote my thesis on Sagada in college”) but it was only about eight years after the Ministry of Mushrooms was formed that he heard about the mushroom foraging culture in the Cordilleras. It was on this first trip to seek it out that he met Angway, who was their guide. “A lot of the book is because of him,” Lobregat said.
Lobregat had brought a mushroom identification book from the US (“Because that’s what I had”) and they managed to identify 13 species, all of which had local names that Angway was familiar with. Lobregat told Angway to keep the book and start documenting what else he could find. It was Angway who broached the idea of writing a book.
“He's like, we should make a book. This is going to be good for children,” Lobregat shared.
Mushroom foraging knowledge has been passed down orally through generations in the Cordilleras, with different communities giving different names to the same species. The authors have tried to account for this in the book, including scientific names as well when able, and if not, at least indicating an approximation. “I wanted it particularly to tie in with the local language and the local practices.”
Lobregat said that part of the challenge was balancing scientific knowledge he learned from experts with “inspir[ing] people to go to the Cordilleras.”
“This is an educational book that I'm hoping will eventually reach more schools,” he said. “One of the larger industries right now in the Cordilleras is tourism… so this is a really nice way to kind of push sustainable tourism.”
The authors’ enthusiasm is infectious. “Many people have come up [to Sagada] that are really excited. We brought chefs, artists, and different people. You don't have to be a scientist to do this. It's really going into nature… we bring back the mushrooms, we cook with it, because I'm trying to discover what else is there every year.”
Foraging has been eye-opening for Lobregat. “They didn't even know that they had chanterelles!” he said, referring to a type of mushroom that can fetch more than 200 US dollars per pound overseas.
Lobregat has also been trying to connect the Cordilleran mushroom market to Manila, when in season, of course. “More and more people are starting to know about the wild mushrooms that we have, and it's great,” he said. “Margarita Fores has started using [them] in Grace Park.” He added that they’re also available in Log Cabin Hotel and Restaurant in Baguio. He’s also approached the DTI for possible products and projects.
It’s important to note that although Lobregat isn’t from the Cordilleras, Angway is, and both had secured approval from the local government and community elders before beginning the book. “One of the [Forest Foundation’s] conditions for the book [was] to make sure that we'll get local approval,” Lobregat shared.
The authors hope that the book will be a jump-off point for more projects. “Hopefully we continue collaboration with different stakeholders, whether it's chefs,” Lobregat said. “I might be working with some hotels, but also like corporations that want to engage with the communities there.”
“This could be something that would be really interesting for people traveling to the Philippines… If you're a nature traveler, you'd be so into this. And you get to [interact with] the local community.”
Angway and his colleagues From SEGA (Sagada Environmental Guides Association) have already started mushroom foraging tours upon request, and depending on the season (usually April to October, when it rains).
The Mushroom Explorer’s Guide to the Cordilleras can be found on Shopee, Lazada, and the Manila Bulletin office.
This book may be the authors’ first, but Lobregat hopes that it won’t be their last. “Hopefully we would be able to do this with other mountain areas in the Philippines, particularly in Bukidnon, maybe in Palawan.”