Madara Riley – Mushroom Maddie
On Facebook, you can find Madara Riley, a Latvian living in the United Kingdom, who is very passionate about mushroom picking. She shares her stories, experiences, knowledge, and inspires others.
Certified mushroomer from Michigan (Larisa Mednis)
Larisa Mednis thinks that her interest in mushrooming comes from her Latvian roots. A number of years ago Larisa joined a mushrooming club in Michigan, USA, where she learned to forage and identify mushrooms from specialists in the field. Today Larisa holds a certificate in wild mushrooming from the State of Michigan, which allows her to legally sell mushrooms. As a vegetarian, Larisa uses mushrooms as a meat substitute in various favourite recipes.
Are you going to send me to mushroom school? (Austra Muižniece)
Austra Muižniece has seen mushrooms in the forest in the Lazio region outside Rome. Her inner Latvian recoils: it turns out she needs to undergo a 12 hour course in mushrooming to be allowed to pick them!
Sauerkraut-making workshop in Melbourne
A sauerkraut making workshop was held in the Latvian House in Melbourne on 26 July 2025. The workshop was organized and led by Arturs Landsbergs, and proceeds were donated to the organization of 3×3 camp. Video filmed and edited by Agnese Krūze.
London Latvian School mushroom foraging trip
Photos from the London Latvian School mushroom foraging trip in 1981.
From the “Latvians Abroad – Museum and Research Centre” collection.
Grandma taught me how to ferment cabbage (Kalvis Mikelšteins)
Every year, Kalvis Mikelšteins ferments cabbage, which he then sells at Latvian Christmas markets in the USA. Cabbage is almost his favorite vegetable — he enjoys eating it cold, adding fresh apple slices and sometimes freshly chopped onion.
Italians have the wrong type of cucumbers! (Austra Muižniece)
Austra Muižniece tells where in Italy one can find the “right” cucumbers for pickling, and about her hunt for dill in Rome.
Baskets full of Saffron Milk Caps! (Iveta Leitase)
Iveta Leitase in Canberra, Australia, tells how she discovered her perfect “mushroom spot” — a pine forest near Canberra where many saffron milk caps grow. It turns out that in Australia, the worms don’t eat these mushrooms!
It took two or three days and the sauerkraut was ready (Nestors Refbergs)
Nestors Refbergs was born in the Latvian colony Letonija in Brazil in 1933. He recalls how his mother made sauerkraut: she crushed the cabbage in a wooden dough trough and then transferred it into a special ceramic fermentation pot. After two or three days, the sauerkraut was ready!
A Latvian Heart and Expensive Dill (Iveta Leitase)
Iveta Leitase in Canberra, Australia makes sauerkraut and lightly salted cucumbers.