There are many different mushrooms growing in Russia. But experts on "silent hunting" are sure that special luck falls to the one who gets to the place where milk mushrooms grow. After all, here you can very quickly fill a huge basket with fragrant mushrooms. An experienced mushroom picker will easily distinguish this white mushroom, which has a pubescent hat and yellowish mycelium.
Why mushrooms are called that
To answer this question, you need to know how and where they grow. These mushrooms "live" in large families, they are popularly called piles or heaps. Many believe that it was for this feature that edible milk mushrooms were so named.
Even if you know well where these wonderful mushrooms grow, you need to learn how to look for them. They are perfectly camouflaged under a layer of foliage, fallen needles. Mushroom pickers go for milk mushrooms in the early morning - about five o'clock. You need to take a long stick with you, with which you can feel all the suspicious tubercles under the birches, or near the stumps. It is with these trees that these mushrooms prefer to grow in symbiosis, creating mycorrhiza.
There is another version of why these mushrooms were named that way. The word "breast" came from Hebrew and in translation means "having a notch." Indeed, it is well known thatThe cap of this fungus is funnel-shaped. Therefore, experts do not take this version seriously.
What milk mushrooms look like, types
Breasts have several varieties. They all grow in groups. Hats of adult specimens often reach 30 cm in diameter. Milk mushrooms, photos of which you can see in our article, are edible mushrooms. They are suitable for s alting and pickling.
Yellow milk mushroom
This conspicuous fungus is distinguished by a yellow hat, which can reach a diameter of 28 cm. But medium-sized specimens are more common, with a cap size of 6 to 10 cm. Sometimes it is colored brown or golden, with small scales. The cap of young mushrooms is slightly convex, then it straightens or becomes concave. Its edges are usually bent inwards. It is smooth to the touch and can become slimy in wet weather.
The leg of the yellow milk mushroom - 5-12 cm, has characteristic bright yellow pits and notches, sticky. It is hollow, but very strong. The plates are frequent, in adult specimens there are brown spots. The flesh of the yellow milk mushroom is white, but when cut, it quickly turns yellow when exposed to air. It has a faint but very pleasant aroma.
Yellow mushrooms look like fringed mushrooms, real and purple. The fringed mushroom is found in deciduous forests. It has no dents on the leg. And the inedible purple milk mushroom is distinguished by lilac milky juice.
Yellow milk mushrooms, the collection time of which is from early July to mid-October, most oftenfound in temperate countries of Eurasia.
Mushroom pickers believe that this is a very tasty type of milk mushrooms. Before use, they are pre-soaked and boiled.
Bitter breast
This variety is slightly smaller than the yellow mushrooms. Their cap rarely exceeds 10 cm. As a rule, it is colored brown or reddish, in the shape of a bell, it straightens with time, a small tubercle appears in the center. Mature specimens have a sunken cap. It is smooth to the touch, has a slight pubescence, in wet weather it is sticky. Bitter milk mushrooms, photos of which can often be seen in special publications for mushroom pickers, have a stem up to 9 cm high. It is thin, cylindrical in shape. Its color is similar to the hat. Covered with light light down, noticeably thickened at the base. The plates are narrow and frequent.
The pulp of these mushrooms is characterized by brittleness, on the cut it secretes white milky juice. It has practically no smell. The mushroom was named for its bitter, peppery taste.
These mushrooms, the description of which resembles the inedible hepatic milkweed, differ in that the milky juice of the latter turns yellow in the air.
The bitter mushroom grows from the first half of July to the beginning of October in almost all countries in northern Europe and Asia. Prefers acidic soils of coniferous forests, rarely found in dense birch forests.
These mushrooms are suitable for s alting, but after a long (10-12 hours) soaking with a change of water. This is necessary to remove bitterness. Under the influence of brine, these ediblemilk mushrooms noticeably darken.
In folk medicine, these mushrooms are not used. But scientists managed to isolate from them a special substance that inhibits the growth of bacteria of hay and Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus.
You need to know that this species is capable of accumulating radioactive substances in its tissues (the nuclide cesium-137), which are deposited in the muscles and liver of a person, so this mushroom is strictly forbidden to collect in areas with a high level of radioactive contamination.
Red-brown breast
Another variety of edible milk mushrooms. These mushrooms have rather large caps - their diameter reaches 18 cm. They are dull, painted in light brown tones, much less often with a bright orange or red tint. In young specimens, the cap is rounded, but gradually it straightens, and then takes on a depressed shape. It is usually smooth and dry to the touch, but sometimes becomes covered with a network of small cracks, and in wet weather it becomes sticky and slimy.
The red-brown mushroom has a stem from 3 to 12 cm in height. It is quite strong, has a cylindrical shape, to the touch - velvety. Its color usually does not differ from the color of the hat. There are frequent and narrow plates that are painted in a light pink or yellow hue, but are more common completely white. When pressed, brown spots appear on the surface.
These mushrooms are characterized by very brittle flesh, which can be white or reddish in color. She tastes sweet. Another characteristic feature isa freshly cut mushroom has the smell of boiled crabs or herring.
These mushrooms have a twin - non-caustic lactic. How to distinguish milk mushrooms? The milky is much smaller, and the skin on its cap almost never cracks.
Red-brown milk mushrooms grow from the first of August until the second half of October in all European countries. They can be found in various forests. They do well in damp shaded areas. These mushrooms are delicious fried and s alted.
Peppercorns
For its caustic and pungent taste, this mushroom was so named. What do pepper mushrooms look like? They have a whitish hat, which does not have zones indicated on the surface, dense, fleshy. The plates are located very often. They are colored yellowish white. In young specimens, the flesh is white, later it turns yellow, at the break - a light greenish tint.
Pepper mushrooms are classified as the lowest grade variety. Nevertheless, such mushrooms can be s alted if they are well soaked or boiled. They are very reminiscent of a violinist and a white load, but differ from the first in frequent plates, a smooth, hairless hat and greenish pulp at the break, and from the second in milky juice.
White real mushroom
So we got to the "king" of all milk mushrooms. Since the beginning of the 19th century, pepper mushrooms have been called so in Russia. But in 1942, the famous scientist, mycologist B. Vasilkov proved that the species Lactarius resimus should be considered real.
Real milk mushroom - pretty mushroomimpressive size. Its cap is white or yellowish in color, can reach a diameter of 25 cm. In young specimens, it is flat, but gradually takes on the shape of a funnel. On the inside, the edges of the cap are bent, there is almost always a noticeable fluff.
In our article you see a real mushroom. Look closely at the photo. On his hat there is always vegetable debris, which sticks to the breast more often than to other types of mushrooms.
A real breast stands firmly on a leg, the height of which is from 3 to 9 cm. It can be white or yellowish, always hollow, has a cylindrical shape.
White pulp with milky juice. Please note that when interacting with air, it acquires a dirty yellow or grayish color. The real flavor is similar to that of fresh fruit.
Look like real milk mushrooms:
- a white boot that has no milky juice;
- violinist, whose hat is more pubescent;
- white wave, much smaller mushroom;
- aspen mushroom, found under aspens, where the real mushroom never grows.
This wonderful mushroom appears in early July and can be harvested until the end of September in Siberia, the Volga region and the Urals.
Where it grows
The real mushroom is most often found in pine-birch and spruce forests of Central Russia, in Transbaikalia, in Western Siberia. In the Urals and in the Volga region they are called raw milk mushrooms. This is due to the mucous surface of the cap. In Siberia, they were called pravskie milk mushrooms, i.e.real.
Eating
Real milk mushrooms are usually s alted after a long boil. This allows you to remove bitterness. Juicy and fleshy milk mushrooms, after they are poured with brine, acquire a slightly bluish tint. After forty days they are ready to eat.
Traditionally in Siberia real milk mushrooms are s alted together with saffron milk caps and mushrooms. They cook pies with them, offer guests cold milk mushrooms under horseradish, with butter. In Western Europe, these mushrooms are considered inedible, and in Russia they have long been called “kings of mushrooms.”
Useful properties
The real breast belongs to low-calorie foods, so it is often used in dietary nutrition, it helps to reduce weight. It contains easily digestible minerals and vitamins. The content of vitamin D in it is especially appreciated. Scientists have found that the white mushroom stabilizes blood sugar levels, so it is especially useful for people with diabetes. In addition, these mushrooms contain substances that have antibacterial properties, so it is advisable to use them during viral epidemics. Their special activity against Koch's sticks is noted. This allows you to use real milk mushrooms, or rather an extract from them, to make a cure for tuberculosis.
