Poieniță is a small poiană, which is the Romanian word for a clearing in the forest, and a clearing is a good place to begin talking about mushrooms. Around Zalău, from late summer to the first frosts, the woods are full of people with baskets and plastic bags, wandering slowly between the beech trunks with their eyes on the ground. The Poieniță point lies a few kilometres outside the town, on the wooded edge of the Meseș foothills, and it belongs to a tradition of foraging that has not died out with the arrival of supermarkets.
Chanterelles, known here as gălbiori, are the favourite, sold by the roadside in tubs and mixed into omelettes, stews and soups. Porcini, or hribi, appear after warm autumn rain, and a few foragers know good places they would never share. Wild raspberries and blueberries ripen in summer, and elderflower and acacia blossom are turned into syrup and fritters in spring. Every household seems to have a jar of forest jam or pickled mushrooms in the cellar. It is a good rule never to eat anything you cannot identify, and to buy mushrooms from a seller who can tell you what they are.
The forest roads are the quiet pleasure of the ride. Beech and hornbeam arch overhead and filter the light into a soft green, which is lovely on a hot day. The surface is sometimes smooth and sometimes broken, with branches, mud and leaves, and logging lorries use some of the tracks, so expect mud from their tyres and a short stretch of tarmac wrecked by their weight. Do not go deep into the woods on a road bike after rain, since clay roads can become impassable, and do not leave your bike on a track used by timber trucks.
Zalău has everything a rider needs, from fuel to repairs, and it is close enough that a day out in the forest is easy to turn around. Small cafés in the town serve strong coffee and plum pastries.
Early morning in September, with mist in the beech wood and a chill on the air, is the ideal hour.