Sense of Place: Community, Culture, Food: Matsutake Mushrooms!

The Gorge is home to a hard-to-find species of mushroom called matsutake. In Japanese, the term matsutake (??/????) essentially means "pine tree mushroom"; a name that reflects the symbiotic relationship between these mushrooms and their natural habitat.
This fungi is renowned for its flavor and cultural legacy. It wasn't until the 17th century that people outside of Japanese nobility were allowed to eat matsutake. And one of the oldest collections of Japanese poems contains a reference to the matsutake - and especially their unique aroma – which has been described by one modern-day, mushroom guide as a "a provocative compromise between Red Hots and dirty socks". Join Amy Peterson, longtime mushroom forager, as she shares the unique natural and cultural history of the matsutake, along with her own family history hunting for this elusive delicacy. *This event will also include a brief film featuring Homer Yasui, who was born and raised in Hood River, on his last matsutake hunt. About the Speaker: Amy Peterson is a third-generation (Sansei ??) Japanese American. She started hunting for matsutake (??/????) mushrooms as a child foraging with her family. She later trained with master matsutake forager, Leke Nakashimada and she now hunts for the fungi from mid-summer through early winter. She regularly leads hunts with the Japanese American Museum of Oregon. Amy estimates that matsutake hunting has been a family tradition for close to a century.
(Header photo: Miki Yasui with matsutake collected in Mt. Hood National Forest. Photo courtesy of the Yasui Family Collection)

Livestream: This event will be livestreamed on our Givebutter page: https://givebutter.com/matsutake

Doors open at 6 pm, show starts at 7 pm. * We encourage people to take their seats by 6:45. * Seats not filled by 6:45 will be made available to our waitlist.

* Event tickets are non-refundable. Tickets are available at: https://givebutter.com/matsutake