Swampscott native Tyler Akabane recently opened The Mushroom Shop in Somerville, stocking everything from cultivated exotic king oyster mushrooms to mushroom-bedecked merchandise. And according to award-winning food writer Corby Kummer, Akabane’s shop is just one step in bringing the mushroom foraging craze to the Boston area.

“We're finally catching up to the rest of the world, because in Europe and many parts of Asia, a lovely outing is going on a hike and looking for mushrooms,” Kummer told Boston Public Radio on Monday. “It's incredibly common.”

“It's a real cult — it's fun and you learn how to do something.”

Kummer is executive director of the Food and Society policy program at the Aspen Institute, a senior editor at The Atlantic and a senior lecturer at the Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy.

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