Gorkusha mushroom (bitter milk mushroom, bitter mushroom): photo and description, how to soak and salt

Bitter milk mushrooms (bitter mushrooms, bitter goat weeds, red bitter mushrooms) are considered to be the most bitter of all representatives of the Milky genus - the colorless juice that is abundantly contained in their pulp is extremely hot and caustic. Moreover, these mushrooms are conditionally edible and are very popular in Russia and Belarus. After mandatory pre-treatment, they are often fried, salted or pickled.Fans of “quiet hunting” should know what bitter milk mushroom looks like, where and at what time it can be found, how it should be soaked and cooked correctly. You need to be careful when collecting these mushrooms: among the lacticifers there are several species that are similar in appearance to mountain weeds, but not all of them are edible.

Description of bitters

The bitter milkweed (red bitterweed, bitterweed, bitterweed, bitterling, bittermilk, bittermilk, bitter milkweed, putik, traveler) is an agaric mushroom, a representative of the genus Mlechnik of the Russula family. Its dense, white or cream-colored flesh has a faint sourish odor and a pronounced pungent, burning taste, which is why the mushroom got its name.

In Latin, the mountain weed is called Lactarius rufus, because its cap is colored in characteristic red tones.

In Belarus, the local folk name “karouka” (“cow”) is also common.

Description of the cap

The diameter of the cap of the bitter mushroom varies from 2.5 to 14 cm. In a young mushroom it is fleshy, flat-convex in shape with a slightly tucked edge. As the cap ages, it becomes prostrate and then funnel-shaped, with a prominent cone-shaped tubercle clearly visible in the center. The outer skin is dark red, brick or red-brown in color (sometimes it can be lighter, fawn shades). The surface of the cap is dry. It is smoother in young fruiting bodies and somewhat “felt” to the touch in older ones.

The plates are frequent, narrow, initially reddish-yellow, later acquiring a brown tint (at the stem itself they may be pinkish). The spores are reticulate, oval in shape. Spore powder is white or cream in color.

The milky juice, which protrudes abundantly in places of damage, is white. Oxidizing in air, it does not change color.

The pulp is dense but brittle. It is extremely rarely wormy.

Description of the leg

The legs grow in length from 3 to 7-10 cm and are up to 2 cm thick. They have a regular cylindrical shape and break easily. White fibrous mycelium is always present near the base.

The legs are usually painted the same tone as the cap or a little lighter than it. Their surface may be covered with whitish fluff.

Young milk mushrooms have solid legs, while older ones become hollow in the middle. Sometimes a spongy substance of a reddish or grayish color appears inside the stem of the mushroom.

Where and how does it grow

The bitter milkweed is the most common representative of the laticifers. They say about this mushroom that it grows wonderfully in any forest in a temperate climate. Most often, bitter milk mushroom forms mycorrhiza with coniferous trees, as well as with birch.

This mushroom prefers acidic soils. There is especially a lot of it in pine or mixed forests. Where it is quite humid, the ground is covered with moss, and tree trunks are covered with lichen.

Bitters grow both singly and in large groups. Depending on the climate, their collection season can begin in June and last until the first frost in mid-autumn. These mushrooms bear fruit most actively in August-September.

Doubles and their differences

It is known that the bitter milk mushroom has several counterparts among other milkweeds.You need to have a good idea of ​​how to recognize the conditionally edible horny goat weed, since among mushrooms similar to it you can also come across those that cannot be eaten.

Milky liver

This mushroom is very often confused with bitter mushroom. However, it is inedible because it has an unpleasant pungent taste that cannot be corrected.

Key differences of this mushroom:

• its cap is slightly smaller than that of bitterweed, it does not exceed 7 cm in diameter;
• the leg is somewhat thinner - up to 1 cm;
• the outer skin on the cap has a lighter, liver-brown color, sometimes with an olive tint;
• The milky sap changes color to yellow when exposed to air.

Camphor milkweed

This “double” of the bitter mushroom is an edible mushroom, but is considered tasteless.

Its distinctive features:

• it is smaller (the cap grows only up to 6 cm in diameter);
• its leg is significantly thinner - no more than 0.5 cm;
• the cap is colored red-brown and has wavy edges;
• as the fruiting body ages, the stem may become spotted and darken;
• the tubercle in the center of the cap is much smaller than that of the bitter mushroom;
• milky juice has a watery consistency and a slightly sweet taste;
• The pulp of the mushroom has a specific smell of camphor.

Marsh milkman

This edible species of milkweed is similar in color to the bitter milk mushroom, but prefers to grow in swampy coniferous forests.

The following traits will help you recognize him:

• cap diameter up to 5 cm;
• the color of the cap of the old mushroom is uneven, it seems to “fade” along the edge;
• the whitish milky juice quickly becomes sulfur-yellow when exposed to air;
• When cut, the flesh has a marsh color.

Stunted milkweed

The stunted milkweed, like the bitter milk mushroom, is conditionally edible.It is often called “tender milk mushroom” and, after soaking, is eaten salted.

It is characterized by the following distinctive features:

• the cap is painted in lighter tones than that of the bitter mushroom;
• the leg is loose, slightly widening towards the base;
• The juice at the break of the pulp is not released abundantly;
• drying out, the white milky juice quickly turns yellow.

Milky meat-red

This “double” of the bitter milk mushroom is considered edible, but it also needs to be soaked before eating.

The meat-red milkweed is distinguished by the following features:

• its leg is shorter than that of the bitter milk mushroom (does not grow longer than 6 cm), and is narrowed downward;
• the cap is dark, terracotta in color and covered with a very slimy, “greasy” skin;
• in its center there is no tubercle characteristic of the bitter milk mushroom;
• sometimes the cap may be unevenly colored: blurry brown spots can be discerned on its surface.

Is the mushroom edible or not?

In foreign science, bitter milk mushrooms are most often considered inedible mushrooms. In the domestic specialized literature, they are usually described as conditionally edible, having category IV nutritional value. This means that they can be eaten after preliminary cooking.

Is it possible to get poisoned by bitters?

Like all conditionally edible mushrooms of the Mlechnik genus, bitter milk mushrooms can provoke an attack of acute gastroenteritis - inflammation of the stomach and small intestine. This is due to the high content of resinous substances in their juice.

Poisoning caused by improper preparation or violation of the rules for pre-processing bitters occurs in a mild form.

How to prepare bitter mushrooms

These mushrooms can be prepared in different ways. Most often they are salted cold or hot, less often they are pickled and fried.In cooking, well-peeled and pre-soaked bitter milk mushrooms are used, boiled for 15-30 minutes.

Do you need to soak bitters?

The bitter milk mushrooms must be soaked before using them for cooking. This allows you to rid the mushroom pulp of the burning juice, which has an unpleasant “pepper” taste.

Before soaking, the mushrooms should be thoroughly washed, using a sponge or brush to remove the skin from soil, adhering leaves or blades of grass, cut off the lower parts of the stems, leaving no more than a couple of centimeters at the base of the caps. Dark and damaged areas of fruiting bodies should be removed with a knife. Large specimens should be cut in half. Next, the bitter milk mushrooms should be placed in a wide container, filled with cold water and kept for 2-3 days. It is necessary to change the water 2-3 times a day.

What happens if bitters are not soaked before cooking?

The juice of milk mushrooms is very caustic and pungent in taste. If the cook is too lazy to soak these mushrooms, he risks simply ruining the dish.

If it happens that the bitterness can be “killed” using seasonings and spices, you need to remember that soaking serves not only aesthetic purposes, but, above all, prevents possible harm to health. The juice of milk mushrooms is rich in resinous substances, which, as mentioned above, can cause acute pain in the stomach and cause mild food poisoning.

How to fry bitter milk mushrooms

Fried bitter milk mushrooms go perfectly with potatoes and sour cream. For this dish you will need:

1. Soak the peeled and washed bitters as described above and boil for 20 minutes.
2. Peel the potatoes and boil them whole in salted water. Once ready, cut it into slices.
3. Heat vegetable oil in a saucepan. Place the mushrooms and sprinkle them with flour. Fry, stirring constantly, until golden brown.
4. Place potato wedges in a suitable-sized baking dish and place fried bitters on top. Pour in sour cream.
5. Place in the oven preheated to 180°C for 15 minutes.

Pickling bitters at home

It is believed that bitter milk mushrooms taste best when salted. There are two basic options for pickling these mushrooms, the so-called “cold” and “hot” methods.

It is believed that it is preferable to salt these mushrooms in a hot way, boiling them in brine with seasonings. In this case, they become elastic and break less.

To prepare this pickling, you should take:

1. Place peeled and soaked bitter mushrooms in a saucepan, add water and boil for 10 minutes.
2. Drain the mushrooms in a colander and rinse immediately with clean cold water (this will crisp them up).
3. Prepare a brine from water and salt.Boil it, put the mushrooms in there and boil for about 15 minutes.
4. Place some of the seasonings on the bottom of the prepared container (enamel pan or bucket). It is advisable to first rinse the greens with boiling water before making pickles. Arrange mushrooms in layers, alternating them with dill and garlic.
5. Pour cooled brine, cover with a flat plate on top and press down with pressure.
6. Place in a cool place for a couple of weeks. After waiting this time, the mushrooms can be served.

Salting bitter mushrooms in a cold way involves a longer period during which it is necessary to keep the mushrooms.

For this dish you will need:

1. The mushrooms need to be prepared and soaked, then rinsed thoroughly with clean water and lightly squeezed.
2. Place the bitters in prepared containers (jars) with their caps down, sprinkling each layer with salt and seasonings.
3. After filling the jar, place herbs and garlic on the very top. If there is not enough liquid from the mushrooms, prepare additional brine and add it to the container.
4. Place a wooden circle on top and apply pressure. Place the jars in the cellar or refrigerator.
5. You can try the finished pickling after two months.

The use of bitters in medicine

It is known that the extract from the fruiting bodies of milk mushrooms has medicinal properties. In medicine, it is used as an antibiotic agent that prevents the proliferation of Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and a number of groups of pathogenic bacteria that cause purulent inflammation, typhoid and paratyphoid fever.

Conclusion

Milk mushrooms are conditionally edible mushrooms, found in abundance in the forests of Russia and Belarus. Despite the fact that they have several “doubles” among other representatives of the Mlechnik genus, mountain weasels are easy to identify by looking closely and knowing the characteristic features that distinguish them. Many mushroom pickers are afraid to collect these mushrooms because the juice contained in their pulp is extremely bitter and caustic. However, it is enough to properly process and soak the goat weed before salting, frying or pickling. And in their finished form, they will certainly appeal to connoisseurs of mushroom dishes.

Recommended Posts

Yellow milk mushrooms: photo + description

What does a black breast look like?

Oak breast: photo and description

Milkweed (euphorbia, red-brown milk mushroom): photo and description

Papillary breast (milky papillary, large): what it looks like, where and how it grows

Growing boletus at home: how to plant and grow

Chanterelle mushrooms and saffron milk caps: differences, photos

Scaly scale: photo and description

Netkonos mushroom: photo and description