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The blue mushroom frightens inexperienced mushroom pickers, who consider it poisonous. But experienced lovers of quiet hunting are always happy to meet this mushroom in the forest. In terms of value, he is only slightly inferior to his "relatives".
Description of the blue weight
Belongs to the russula family of the genus Millechnikov. Latin name Lactarius repraesentaneus. Other names for the blue lump:
- golden yellow purple;
- purple;
- yellow bluish;
- lilac;
- canine;
- spruce mushroom;
- the milkman is personable.
The epithet "dog" milk mushroom was awarded, most likely, for the "increased shaggy" of young fruit bodies.
The flesh of a dog's milk mushroom is yellowish, dense, slightly bitter in taste. The smell is "normal" mushroom. At the break, white milky juice is abundantly released, which quickly turns blue on contact with air.
The color varies from light yellow to orange-yellow. At an older age, it can be brown.
Description of the hat
The diameter of the cap is from 6 to 14 cm. Convex at a young age, then straightens and becomes funnel-shaped in a mature mushroom. The edges are rolled inward, pubescent. In youth, the hat is "shaggy" over the entire surface. Later, a well-developed "coat" remains only at the edges. Yellow color. The skin is dry. Sticky and slimy in wet weather. There may be subtle concentric rings on the surface of the cap.
Hymenophore - thin narrow plates of light yellow color with a slight purple tint. The lower ends of the plates "go" onto the leg. In the place of damage they turn blue.
Leg description
Length 5-12 cm. Diameter 1-3 cm is the same along the entire length. An option is possible when the stem expands downward. The leg thickness is equal along the entire length or may increase slightly downward. Located in the center of the cap.
In young mushrooms, the flesh of the leg is firm, but fragile. With age, the leg becomes hollow, and its flesh is loose. The surface is sticky, with depressions. Color from pale yellow to orange-yellow. With age, the leg becomes lighter than the cap.
Where and how the blue lump grows
In English, the representative milkman is also called:
- northern bearded;
- milk cap;
- northern milk cap.
The English names to some extent indicate the distribution area of the blue mushroom. The southern border of the representative miller's range runs along the latitude of the Vologda Oblast. The fungus is widespread in Eurasia, up to the Arctic zone: it is found in Greenland and Taimyr. Common in North America.
It grows in deciduous and mixed forests, as it is a symbiont of birch, willow and spruce. Prefers calcium-poor soil.Occurs in groups or singly in damp places.
The fruiting season is in September.
Is the mushroom edible or not
The bluish lump almost completely justifies the name of the family to which it belongs: Russula. No, you can't eat it right in the forest. Milky sap is too bitter. But after soaking, raw mushrooms are simply salted without heat treatment. Many mushroom pickers even believe that these mushrooms cannot be boiled, since after heat treatment all the taste is lost. But it all depends on personal preference. Nothing prevents the use of boiled and fried milk mushrooms.
No deaths were registered. Only abdominal pains were noted. At the same time, the substances that cause "poisoning" have not yet been found. With a high degree of probability, the reason is the improper preparation of the dog's milk mushroom: it was not pre-soaked beforehand. Irritation in the stomach, apparently, is caused by unreleased milky juice.
How are blue milk mushrooms prepared
The main thing in the preparation of dog milk mushrooms is long soaking. Depending on preference, this procedure can last from 3 to 7 days. The water must be changed at least once a day. The advantage of the blue mushrooms is that they do not begin to ferment even with such a long stay in the water. After removing the milky juice, the mushrooms can be used based on personal preference.
Blue mushrooms are salted or pickled for making snacks. Everyone has their own secrets, but you can usually find a couple of recipes.
Salting
One of the simple recipes:
- 2 kg of mushrooms;
- 3 tbsp. l. salt;
- allspice peas;
- Bay leaf.
Spices are added to taste, but taking into account the fact that milk mushrooms are bitter on their own. Bay leaf also gives bitterness and you do not need to be zealous with it.
Bay leaves are pre-crushed. The soaked mushrooms are laid out in layers in a salting container and sprinkled with salt and spices. A load is placed on top and the container is placed in a cool place. After a week, the finished product can be laid out in jars and stored in the refrigerator.
Pickling
For pickling, peeled washed milk mushrooms need to be boiled for 15 minutes in boiling water. The foam formed on the surface is removed.
For pickling 2 kg of mushrooms you will need:
- 2 tbsp. l. salt and sugar;
- 45 ml of table vinegar;
- 8 pcs. bay leaves;
- allspice peas to taste;
- a few cloves of garlic;
- currant leaves;
- 2 liters of water.
Add all the ingredients except the vinegar to a pot of water and boil for 10 minutes. Put the boiled mushrooms in a 3-liter jar, pour over a boiling solution and add vinegar. Put in the refrigerator. The product will be ready in a month.
Freezing
Before freezing, the milk mushrooms are boiled to remove the bitterness. Cook for an average of 15 minutes. If the milk mushrooms are large, they are boiled longer. The water is drained and the semi-finished products are allowed to cool. Then you can put the mushrooms in the freezer.
To freeze a ready-to-eat product, mushrooms are fried with spices and salt. In the future, the resulting semi-finished product is used in any mushroom dish.
Doubles and their differences
Opinions about the presence of twins in a blue milk mushroom differ. According to some sources, it is too original and cannot be confused. According to others, there is at least 1 double. In the photo, the blue and yellow milk mushrooms are really very similar. But when collecting in the forest, it is difficult to confuse them, since the latter turns yellow at a break, and does not turn blue.
Yellow Milk (Lactárius scrobiculátus)
Synonyms:
- scraper;
- yellow load;
- yellow wave.
Color variations from light brown to yellow. There may be subtle concentric circles on the cap.
The yellow load is very large. With the height of the leg the same as that of the blue one, the yellow cap can grow up to 25 cm. At a young age it is convex, later it straightens and becomes funnel-shaped in the mature scrub. The skin can be smooth or woolly. In the second version, the yellow milk mushroom really looks like a blue one.In rainy weather, the cap is slimy, in dry weather it is sticky. A milky sap appears at the fracture, which becomes gray-yellow in air.
Grows on limestone soils. In this it differs from the blue one, which prefers the soil poor in calcium. It is found next to birch and spruce, with which the yellow underload forms mycorrhiza. Occurs in small groups. Distributed in the north of Eurasia. In Eastern European countries and Russia, the yellow wave is considered valuable and belongs to the first category. In terms of value, the scraper is almost on a par with the white milk mushroom. Some mushroom pickers even prefer yellow over white.
The harvesting season is July-October.
Yellow, in turn, is credited with resembling a white milk mushroom. It would be logical to assume that blue and white are very similar. But no. It's all about the variability of color. Yellow can be almost the same color as white, but blue is not.
Conclusion
The blue mushroom is loved by experienced mushroom pickers of the northern regions. The only bad thing is that it is rare and it is difficult to collect enough for winter preparations. But you can make a mushroom platter.
