I put it into my mouth, and though only a tiny fleck, I immediately felt the dry bitterness spread on the tip of my tongue. I cringed as I eyed the red, bark-textured piece of mushroom on the table. A small piece, not more than 100 grams easily fetches up to NT$20,000 ($660;EUR 440).
We had driven almost an hour, escaped the urban jungle and surburban sprawl and come to a green, wooded area outside of Taoyuan. A classmate of mum's is into buying and selling foodstuff, and since she found out that mum has cancer, he has kindly offered to drive mum to the remote area to a vendor who stocks this bitter mushroom. "Not everyone has the luck to come across it," he said as we wound our way up mountain roads caressing lush valleys with streams and lakes
The mushroom may easily be dismissed as any normal fungus that grows where it is damp and dark. But the Antrodia Camphorata (牛樟芝) is commonly known as the "Red Ruby of the Forest" due to its rarity and almost mystical healing potentials. Formosan Aboriginals have since time memorial used the mushroom to heal wounds, and only they where these rare plants indigenous to the island can be found. In recent years, scientists have done research into the medicinal qualities of the Antrodia Camphorata, and there is proof that the spores of these aged mushrooms have anti-oxidants that can prevent early phases of cancer, or at the very least slow down the spread of cancer cells. The plant is especially potent for those with liver disease, and aboriginals, many who are prone to heavy drinking, often chew on a little piece of the plant and the next morning are free from effects of a hang-over.
The plant grows inside the trunks of camphor trees high in the mountains of Taiwan, and due to high demand for it, the plant is considered an endangered species. There are lots of imitation ones on the market too, ones that are just plain fungus dyed with chemical red, but the redness rubs off easily and can poison rather than heal the body. The real thing is hard and difficult to break like wood, sometimes covered with soil, and in complete darkness the red texture reflects white light and even glows. When I heard that, I immediately thought of the sacred spores of the mother tree of the Narvi people in the movie Avataar.
We bargained hard, as the fungus really has kept mum's liver and immune system healthy despie all the drugs and chemo that she must take regularly. She usually slices bits of the mushroom and boils it in water to make a light brownish liquid which she takes in. The vendor was reluctant at first, but at one point I said I am willing to pay for a little. Perhaps seeing my 'kindness' and perhaps moved by my care for my mum, she agreed to a price that was still high, but much lower than the initial offer.
With the mushrooms stored in an iced package, I carefully put it into my bag, and carried it home. I stared out, at the eagles soaring above jagged and rough mountain tops, at the green vegetation and bamboos that swooned in the warm sun, and imagined where underneath it all this magical fungus hid.
Inside, I was grateful to mother nature, and to this little island, for the precious gift in my bag.
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