Content
Psatirella Candolla belongs to false mushrooms that do not contain toxic substances and, if properly prepared, can be used as a food product. However, unlike conventional honey agarics, it requires a longer and more complex culinary processing. It is also very important to distinguish this mushroom from other poisonous representatives and are dangerous to human health and life.
Where Candoll's psatirells grow
Psatirella Candolla grows everywhere: in the central regions of Russia, Siberia, the Urals and the Far East, in deciduous or mixed forests. A favorite habitat is dead, rotten wood, dead wood, stumps. You can also meet these mushrooms in parks and gardens near human habitation. Psatirella grows throughout the warm season, from May to autumn.
What Candoll's psatirells look like
Psatirella Candolla has an external resemblance to the honeydew, therefore its other name is false foam. The bell-shaped cap in young representatives takes on a prostrate shape as it grows, and a smooth tubercle remains in the center. The hat with a diameter of 3 to 8 cm is almost white, and with age it becomes darker, acquiring a brown tint. The remains of the veil of young fungi subsequently break apart and form snow-white flakes on the inside, which is also typical for honey agarics. A hollow, long, cylindrical, cream-colored leg grows from 7 to 10 cm. It is very smooth, occasionally has a slight pubescence. The flesh of its brown color with a whitish tint has a very delicate, pleasant mushroom aroma, which becomes noticeable only when the mushroom is brought to the nasal sinuses. The cap and leg of this species are very fragile and brittle.
You can clearly see this mushroom in the following video:
Is it possible to eat Candoll's psatirella
The edibility of Candoll's psatirella is controversial. Some sources indicate that it is conditionally edible, in others it is completely inedible. The use of this pseudo-foam requires complex heat treatment, therefore it is very rarely used for cooking culinary dishes.
Mushroom taste
The palatability of Candoll's psatirella is mediocre in any form. Its taste is nothing special, and its nutritional value remains questionable. In its raw form, honey mushroom is very bitter, unpleasant in taste, so they try it only in finished form. If bitterness is felt in the cooked mushroom dish, then it should be thrown away immediately. This signals that poisonous fruit bodies have entered the mushroom basket. Given the similarity to inedible mushrooms of its kind, Candoll's false mushroom is rarely used for gastronomic purposes.
Benefits and harm to the body
Psatirella Candoll does not represent any benefit to the human body, since it does not have any unique properties. It is not used in traditional medicine for medicinal purposes. False foams can be harmful due to improper cooking and non-observance of heat treatment regimes.
Poisoning is characterized by the following symptoms:
- dizziness and headache;
- nausea, heartburn, very unpleasant symptoms inside the stomach;
- vomiting, diarrhea;
- loss of consciousness;
- weakness, apathy and trembling limbs.
In some cases, if Candoll is poisoned with psatirella, loss of consciousness is possible. At the first symptoms, you should consult a doctor.
False doubles
Psatirella has the remains of a bedspread on the inside of the cap, which is typical for real honey agarics. However, confusing them with each other is rather difficult. In some cases, the mushroom does not retain the remains of the bedspread, which makes mushroom pickers confuse it with mushrooms of different types. But, unlike them, the Candoll species grows only on dead wood and, in most cases, in numerous groups. Champignons are also distinguished by a well-defined ring on a leg, which the variety under consideration does not have.
Psatirella Candolla has an external similarity with other representatives of the Agrocybe genus - psatirella gray-brown and water-loving. However, Candolla is characterized by a darker spore color than her brethren. And the water-loving false froth actively bears fruit only in the fall - from September to November. Both mushrooms are conditionally edible.
Psatirella water-loving on the picture:
Psatirella gray-brown:
Collection rules
Psatirella Candolla is highly variable: its external characteristics depend on the place of growth, air temperature during growth, soil composition, lighting and type of wood. Therefore, in different regions and even in different places, the mushroom has its own, unique appearance. It differs from the related inedible mushrooms of Candoll only in the presence of the remains of the bedspread and the shade of spores. This makes it very difficult to collect. Fruits brittle honey fungus in places with little shade, even on fairly dry soil in large groups, where about 1 kg of mushrooms can be collected at a time. In one place, the culture grows for 3 - 4 years, which is very important for mushroom pickers interested in picking.
Use
As a commercial mushroom, Candoll's psatirella is of little interest. The fact that it is inedible, there is information in old sources. However, at present, scientists ranked the mushroom as a conditionally edible variety of fruit bodies. Before eating, psatirella is soaked in cold water, then boiled for 30 - 40 minutes, the broth must be drained and not used for cooking. After that, the mushroom mass is fried, boiled, salted or pickled.
You can check the edibility of psatirella in this way:
- Place them in a cooking pot.
- After boiling, put a peeled onion or a few cloves of garlic there.
- A change in the color of mushrooms to brown or blue indicates the presence of poisonous specimens.
Conclusion
Psatirella Candolla, grows in large groups throughout the summer, so it is not difficult to collect them. The main thing is not to be confused with kindred brothers. Not having high gastronomic qualities, in the absence of other mushrooms, psatirella will be able to diversify the table in the summer-autumn and winter seasons.
