Those who have their tires punctured in the mountains because they don’t have the correct registration know it better than anyone: a mushroom spot cannot be shared. The secret must not be leaked, it is jealously passed on like a family heirloom, from grandparents to grandchildren. But for those who are not rich in this knowledge and do not feel like spying on belote games in a PMU bar to catch the best morel “spot” of the moment, a more “technological” alternative exists: the interactive – and paid – maps of the site huntersdemushrooms.comavailable online since 2020.
“Let me be clear, this is a purely scientific approach. We don’t collect anyone’s mushroom corners, we offer the optimal areas to find them,” confides Jordan Monnot, the creator of the concept, returning from a rather large picking of morels in his native Haute-Savoie.
Computer modeling VS popular wisdom
The engineer with a degree from Arts et Métiers, who also studied at Polytechnique, does not disclose the mushroom or chanterelle mushroom areas, he calculates them. Thanks to “an algorithm”, a computer model, which combines the data that the popular wisdom of the countryside intuitively associates: the biotope concerned, with the tree species present, the exposure of the plots, the composition of the soil, their “acidity », weather reports, etc.
For 48 euros, then 5 euros per month for addicts who choose the passion subscription, pickers obtain, by region and species, the famous treasure maps. “It’s not a magic wand either,” warns Jordan Monnot. It’s not enough to enter a GPS point and stay there for five minutes. Mushrooms, with or without algorithms, are worth it. But, he assures that his cards make it possible to optimize “the quantity” in the basket and to avoid returning empty-handed.
So, of course, the engineer knows very well that he is setting foot in undergrowth strewn with pitfalls. The fifty unfriendly messages he receives every year on his site are there to remind him that he is committing a sort of sacrilege. “There are people who think that it is knowledge that should remain in the family. But when you didn’t grow up in the countryside, you also have the right to go mushrooms,” he assumes.
Jordan Monnot claims “thousands of users” – “thirty-year-olds, retirees, families” – including “around 30% urban residents”. And although he may be the high-tech version of the picker, he does not escape tradition, and predicts that “the year will be very good for mushrooms”. He advises taking advantage of the next fortnight for the blond morels.