Content
More than 200 thousand species of edible and inedible mushrooms grow on the earth. The garlic farmers of the Negniychnikov family also occupy their niche among them. All of them are similar to each other, nondescript, outwardly unremarkable. The oak garlic is a small mushroom of this family, which can be found in the fall in the forests of Russia, where oaks grow.
What does an oak garlic look like?
The oak garlic stands out among the mushrooms for its small size, growing conditions, a darkish creamy leg and a garlic smell spreading through the forest.
Description of the hat
The cap is convex at the first stage of ripening. It looks like a bell at this time. Then it becomes concave-convex, and at the end of maturation - completely colorless. The edges are lamellar, with time they become torn, slightly ribbed. The plates are frequent, adherent, cream-colored. Only in the middle there are dirty, dark red spots. The diameter of the cap is small. Its maximum size can reach 4 cm. But this rarely happens. Typical diameter is 2 to 3 cm.
Leg description
The leg is slightly curved, reaches 8 cm and has a creamy shade at the top. At the bottom, it is replaced by a dark brown color. This part of the leg is solid, with a white fluff at the base, passing into the mycelium.
Is the mushroom edible or not
This lamellar mushroom is edible. Its caps can be fried or pickled. It takes a long time to collect a sufficient amount of garlic, even in a season when the forest is literally dotted with this mushroom.
When dried, it has a garlic aroma, so it is mainly used as a condiment. Especially appreciated in French cuisine.
Where and how it grows
Garlic mushroom grows in oak groves or mixed forests. This is due to the fact that the mycelium or mycelium spreads on leaf opal under oak trees. The distribution area in Russia is its European part. They appear in autumn, during humid periods with temperatures below 10 ºC, from October to November. In places of their appearance, a persistent spicy aroma spreads through the forest.
Doubles and their differences
The doubles include a large garlic and an ordinary garlic.
The first type is outwardly similar to its oak counterpart, but has significant differences:
- a large hat reaches 6.5 cm;
- the leg is brown, below it is black, high, 6-15 cm;
- grows in Europe, where beech grows.
Edible, used fried and pickled, or as a condiment. But the taste is slightly inferior to other garlic ones.
The common garlic grows in forests with clay or sandy soil and prefers dry places. It can be confused with meadow mushrooms, although the latter do not emit a garlic-onion smell. Edible after frying or pickling, culinary experts use it as a spice.
Conclusion
The oak garlic, due to its small size and unattractive appearance, remains unknown to many mushroom pickers.Meanwhile, it has a pleasant taste, high culinary value: it gives mushroom and garlic aroma to the first and second courses.
