Chicken mushrooms, which have such an original name, are actually scientifically called annular caps. This type of mushroom is typical primarily for mountain forests and foothills. Turk, white bog, dull rosites … All these are the names that people call chicken mushrooms.
Description
They are part of the European species of edible rosites. Chicken mushrooms have a hat up to fifteen centimeters in size. They are quite fleshy, with a cap-shaped lid, as a result of which they got their scientific name. The cap has folded down edges and is gray-yellow or ocher in color. Young "hens" - mushrooms, the photo of which shows their rather great resemblance to the rest of the cobwebs, as they grow, straighten their spherical or egg-shaped caps, gradually becoming flat with a raised center. Adult swamps or Turks have soft and friable flesh, initially white and later turning yellow.
Appearance
In general, chicken mushrooms, photos and descriptions of which show that they are very reminiscent of cobwebs, were previously considered representatives of this species. Themalmond-shaped warty spores are the same as those of the latter. However, chicken mushrooms never have a cobweb veil between the edge of the cap and the stem. Their plates are relatively rare and adherent, with unequal length.
The leg of this representative of the Rosites is strong, cylindrical, dense at the base, solid with a silky fibrous surface.
Distribution locations
Chicken mushrooms, the photo of which shows that they are very similar to some types of voles, for example, early or hard, forms mycorrhiza mainly with coniferous trees, although they are found no less often under oaks or birches. In the middle zone of our country, they can be collected in mossy areas in pine or mixed forests.
In mountain ranges, they are found even at an altitude of two thousand meters. Chicken mushrooms are most common in Western Europe and Belarus. In our country, they are more common in damp forest areas of Central Russia on ash and podzolic soil types. These mushrooms love to inhabit mixed forests, but are often found in pure coniferous forests, unless, of course, there is enough moisture and all the necessary conditions for reproduction and growth are present.
When to collect
Of course, this representative of the Rosites can hardly be attributed to the most common and sought after. Experts believe that some external resemblance to a toadstool played an important role in the reason for such unpopularity. However, those who once tried these mushrooms will surely return to cooking dishes from the cap.ringed.
Search for mushrooms chickens begin in mid-August. The season can continue until the end of October. This mushroom especially loves thickets of blueberries and lingonberries. After the end of the picking of berries, it almost completely fills the places of their distribution in large groups. And one more interesting fact: chickens grow only in ecologically clean areas.
This is not a fly agaric
Very often chicken mushrooms beginner lovers of "quiet hunting" take for inedible and do not take in their basket. But this is absolutely not true. These representatives of rosites belong to the fourth group in terms of their nutritional characteristics. They can be consumed both boiled and s alted. They have a very refined mushroom aroma and exquisite taste.
Outwardly, ringed caps or chickens are very reminiscent of gray fly agaric. But they are very easy to distinguish from the latter. It is enough just to study the inner surface of their hats. There are plates that have a yellow and brown color. A distinctive feature of the fly agaric is that they are always snow-white at any age.
There is a difference in the structure of the legs. Firstly, this is a ring located just below their hat. It has a color to match the whole mushroom. A little higher there are small yellowish scales. In addition, the stem itself below the ring is thinner than at the top.
These delicious chicken mushrooms
Not everyone knows how to cook a ringed cap. However, those who are already familiar with their taste believe that when fried, they are simplyamazing. To prepare such a culinary masterpiece, chickens need to be cleaned and rinsed thoroughly. Some housewives like to boil them first, and then fry them, others prefer to brown them fresh in oil. How to eat these mushrooms is a matter of taste, but they are especially good in a batter made from flour, eggs, mayonnaise and spices. First, the chickens need to be dipped in it, then rolled in breadcrumbs and put in a hot frying pan, in which sunflower oil is already sizzling. Frying time is approximately five or seven minutes.
A dish prepared according to this recipe is eaten instantly. To the taste of the chicken, mushrooms, the photo of which is somewhat reminiscent of fly agaric, are similar to tender chicken meat.
Canning
Annular caps for the winter are harvested in a variety of ways: they are pickled and s alted, but it is the fermented version that deserves special attention. The taste of these mushrooms becomes sharp and expressive, which manifests itself in the mouth with small sharp bubbles.
The recipe for sour chickens is quite easy: for one kilogram of mushrooms you will need sixty grams of s alt, several peas of black and allspice pepper. You will also need horseradish, garlic, bay leaf, mustard seeds and dill.
Mushrooms are blanched in boiling s alted water prepared at the rate of one tablespoon of s alt per liter of water for five or ten minutes. Then they are thrown back on a sieve, washed with cold water and allowed to drain.
After that, the mushrooms need to be mixed with spicesand the remaining s alt in the dishes intended for fermentation. Then the mass is covered with a clean napkin, on top of which a wooden circle or plate is placed, and they are oppressed. Mushrooms ferment from five to ten days, depending on the ambient temperature. After that, they need to be transferred to jars and stored in the refrigerator.
