Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/455578
XIV maltatoday, Sunday, 1 February 2015 This Week For centuries scientists lumped mushrooms with the plants, using the old they're-not-animals-so-they-must-be-plants logic. Most people today still think so, but fungi are in fact a separate kingdom of living organisms and they're not plants at all – indeed, fungi are more closely related to us than to plants! The actual fungus is not the mushroom per se, but a threadlike mass that grows underground – the nice umbrella-like Smurf- friendly structures are only the fruiting bodies. Experts calculate that over 400 different kinds of mushrooms occur in Malta, many of which still await identification, others await discovery. Many look alike but some are easier to recognise. One of the easier mushrooms is the lovely Wood Blewits and the reason is because of its unusual lilac colour (blewit is an old word for blue), not a common colour in mushrooms. It grows in the shade under trees on various kinds of leaf litter and it's not very common. Whenever I show mushrooms to people the first question I am invariably asked is whether they're edible or poisonous. Well the Wood Blewits (M: Faqqiegh Vjola) is actually edible when cooked but DON'T go sautee-ing the first lilac mushroom you come across because you might just pick a wrong one that will ruin more than your dish. You have been warned. 439. WOOD BLEWITS GREEN IdEA of thE wEEk 342: : SeaSonal treatS for January – after a month of indulgence, January is normally a time for resolutions and diets, but there's still loads of wonderful veggies you can enjoy. Cook up a treat this month with kale, leeks, swede, carrots, squash, celeriac and turnips. Shell Petroleum of Nigeria has agreed to pay US$83 million in compensation to the bodo community in nigeria. The compensation, for two spill incidents in 2008, is a welcome development that could open the door for more communities that have suffered Shell's environmental assaults to seek legal redress. Shell's decision to pay the community was arrived at after a settlement meeting with the affected community. While Shell continues to circulate press releases claiming it took responsibility immediately after the incident happened, Friends of the earth nigeria, in a statement issued in Lagos, confirmed that the unrelenting quest for justice by the bodo community even after six years of frustrating negotiations forced the hands of Shell. The victory goes to the people. The amount may seem huge but it is paltry when compared to the ecosystem disturbance and destruction of livelihoods which has denied income to the victims for 6 long years in a country where welfare packages are non- existent. This is a victory for the bodo people and to all those who stood by them. This is another watershed development and with this a floodgate of similar cases of victims in the niger delta is bound to increase against Shell. This victory notwithstanding, Foe nigeria believes that it is not time to click glasses. now is the time to pressure Shell to clean up all the polluted environments of the niger delta. Tokens are not enough to cover up Shell's ecocide. Visit Friends of the Earth's website for more information about our work, as well as for information about how to join us www.foemalta.org. You can also support us by sending a blank SMS donation on 50618070 (€4.66) or 50619223 (€11.65). Text and photo Victor Falzon Shell compensation in Nigeria Vienna in Valletta with Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven Manoel Theatre together with the Austrian Embassy are producing an exciting concert on February 4 at 20:00 in which, for the first time in Malta, musicians from the world famous Vienna Philharmonic will join forces with members of the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra in an evening celebrating three masters synonymous with the City of Music: Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. Wener Hink, who served as concertmaster with the Vienna Philharmonic for almost 40 years, Edward Kudlak, violist with the Vi- enna Philharmonic since 1972 and Fritz Dolezal, former solo cellist of the Orchestra, will lead the ensem- bles in Haydn's glorious Emperor string quartet op 76 no.3, the ebul- lient Quartet for f lute and strings K 285 by Mozart and Beethoven's magnificent Septet in E f lat major for winds and strings, op 20. Sharing the stage with them will be soloists and affiliated members of the Malta Philharmonic, includ- ing Jose García Gutiérrez (French horn), Godfrey Mifsud (clarinet), Ulrike Buhlmann (bassoon), Re- becca Hall (f lute), Maria Conrad (violin) and Michelle Scicluna (double bass). The concert will be preceded by a pre-concert talk at 19:15. Tickets are €20 with discounts for students and senior citizens and can be purchased from www.teatrumanoel. com.mt, bookings@teatrumanoel. com.mt or 2124 6389 Rebecca Hall