When it comes to exotic and pricy food items, we usually think about the likes of saffron and some Darjeeling tea. But there is a wild mushroom that grows in the high Himalayas that can dwarf them when it comes to price.
Gucchi is a wild mushroom that is grown in the foothills of the Himalayas and is priced at around Rs 30,000 for a kg. Guchchi mushroom, a wild mushroom species is found on the Himalayas.
The mushroom grows in conifer forests across temperate regions, and the cool foothills of the Himalayas, in Himachal, Uttaranchal and Jammu & Kashmir are ideal territory for them. One of the reasons for its high price and demand is availability.
Unlike other mushrooms, Gucchi cannot be cultivated commercially and have to be collected from the wild.
Its price in the market is 25 to 30 thousand rupees kg and it has also very high demand in abroad. Guchchi mushrooms cannot be cultivated commercially and instead they grow wild only in some regions like the Kangara Valley, Jammu and Kashmir, Manali and other parts of Himachal Pradesh after the snowfall period.
The medicinal properties found in the bunch remove heart diseases. It also provides many other types of nutritions to the body. Guchchi mushrooms usually grow in clusters on logs of decaying wood or decaying leaves and even in humus soil.
In the US, France, Europe, Switzerland and Italy, people like to eat. However, to collect it one has to go very high on the mountain, risking life. This is stored and dried during the rains, after which it is used. Guchchi mushrooms need to be soaked in hot water for at least an hour to moisten them and to remove all the dirt and sand particles that may cling on to the porous skin of the mushroom.
It is also said that thunder and lightning help them to multiply and also that they grow best in areas that have been hit by forest fire. However it is not proved yet.