I’m a summer child, it’s true, but I have a soft spot for the mushrooms the wet seasons bring. When the rains come, I know the forest is about to burst with them. After our #jilberilemantar tour a few years ago, something like a thousand people asked me about it.
The short answer
Jilber Barutçiyan is a mycologist trained in Switzerland, one of the best-known names in mushrooms in Türkiye and the author of Türkiye’nin Mantarları 1 and Makro Mantarlar. In autumn he leads mushroom hunts in the forests around Istanbul: a short talk, two hours of foraging, then a table where he sorts everyone’s basket, and lunch. I wrote this in 2020; my most recent day in the woods with him was in Şile in 2026.
Put simply, mushroom hunting is one of the most enjoyable ways to get people of any age out into nature, gathering something. Jilber Barutçiyan, a mycologist, starts with a short talk, then sends you off into the forest. Two hours later you come back with your basket, he sorts what you found, and you eat, drink and talk mushrooms together.
The tours run on set dates in autumn. When I wrote this in 2020, bookings were taken at jilberilemantar@gmail.com. For a more recent day out with Jilber, read Mushroom Hunting in the Şile Forests.
How a hunt works
- Jilber opens with a short talk: where to look, how to pick, how to carry what you find.
- Then you forage on your own for about two hours. No plastic bags; a basket and a pocketknife.
- Back at base he empties every basket onto the table and sorts it: the edible on one side, the inedible and the poisonous on the other.
- Then you eat, drink and talk mushrooms together, and you can take home the edible ones he has approved.
If you want to go today
The hunts run in October and November and depend on the weather: no rain, no mushrooms, so they can be cancelled. The program, price and booking details from the 2026 day I joined at Casa Lavanda in Ulupelit, Şile, are in Mushroom Hunting in the Şile Forests.
Before anything else
Every edible mushroom has a poisonous lookalike, and you can’t tell whether a mushroom is safe from its name or its looks. Never eat anything you pick in the forest without an expert’s identification. If you suspect poisoning in Türkiye, call 114 (National Poison Information Center).
Nilay’s pieces on Jilber (in Turkish)
Nilay wrote about our 2016 hunt in the Belgrad Forest for her column in Sözcü Şık, with my photos: Mantar kafasını yanlış anlamışız. A year earlier she wrote about meeting Jilber and Türkiye’s wealth of mushrooms: Kusursuz bir cinayet silahı olarak mantar. Jilber was also a guest on her podcast Nasıl Olunur: episode 125, Jilber Barutçiyan.
Keep reading and listening
- Mushroom Hunting in the Şile Forests with Jilber Barutçiyan (2026)
- Stuffed morels with beef, leek and cream
- Mushroom tables on our podcast YBYK (in Turkish): episode 51, with Ayça Budak
