THE MYCOLOGICAL

ASSOCIATION OF

WASHINGTON, DC

MAW Monthly Meeting

  • 07 Nov 2017
  • 6:30 PM - 9:30 PM
  • Kensington Park Library: 4201 Knowles Ave, Kensington, MD 20895

For November, it will be our pleasure to hear Elinoar Shavit.  An expert in medicinal and edible mushrooms, and ethno-mycology.  A summary of her talk follows:

Desert Truffles: The Mother of all Mushrooms

The millennia-long history of use of species of Terfezia and Tirmania, their importance to the local populations, their plight, and the efforts to slow-down their demise and desertification

Desert truffle have the longest recorded history of use as food and medicine of any mushroom, and their history follows the history of human civilization. There is solid evidence that they were the biblical manna, they are discussed in the bible and in Islam’s religious writings, special prayers and celebrations are offered to them when they first appear, and they are often used as survival food. I will present the rich story of these specialized fungi, which grow in the deserts of the Middle East and North Africa, the threats they now face, and the attempts to preserve them and the culture of the people who have traditionally used them.

As former president of the New York Mycological Society, contributing editor at Fungi Magazine, and past chairperson of the medicinal mushrooms committee of NAMA, Elinoar's lecture is sure to both entertain and inform.

If you're interested in participating in a carpool, as either a driver or passenger, please go to the carpool application to try to find other participating MAW members.

Comments or questions? Contact us at info@mawdc.org.

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