Matsutake mushrooms (file photo).
Tomomarusan/Wikimedia
Matsutake mushroom season opens Tuesday in national forests across Oregon. The brown and white fungi are prized in Japan and China for their spicy odor and taste. Each year, commercial harvesters flock to Oregon to search for the mushrooms to sell overseas.
Amy Peterson is a Japanese-American Portland resident who has been harvesting matsutakes recreationally her whole life.
"Matsutake hunting has been in my family for probably close to 100 years," said Peterson. "There's never a bad day mushroom hunting. Even if you don't find anything you still have found beauty, serenity, all sorts of wonderful things."
With the recent rain and low temperatures, Peterson said she expects this season to be an average year for matsutakes.