Content
Common jelly is a mushroom with a recognizable appearance and numerous valuable properties. Although the nutritional intake of fruiting bodies is limited, they can be of great benefit when properly harvested and used.
Where the common fun grows
You can meet an ordinary fun, which is also called a smelly morel, an immodest phallus and a shameful person, throughout Russia. The fungus is very widespread. It usually grows in mixed and coniferous forests on rich nutritious soils, it is found both singly and in groups. The maximum fruiting of the mushroom occurs in July and until mid-autumn.
On the territory of Russia, ordinary fun is found everywhere
What does ordinary fun look like?
The smelly morel is an unusual mushroom that can be found in two stages of growth, and the fruiting bodies will be very different in appearance. Young common veseli have ovoid outlines, they rise no more than 6 cm in height, and reach about 5 cm in width.The color of a young mushroom is yellowish or off-white, its ovoid cap is covered with a dense peel, under which there is mucus, and under the mucus a tougher fruiting body is felt.
An ordinary adult fun looks completely different. After the egg cracks during maturation, the mushroom very quickly grows up to 10-15 cm in height and acquires a small adjoining bell-shaped hat of brown-olive color. The stem of the mushroom is white and cellular, hollow inside. The cap is abundantly covered with mucus, in mature mushrooms the mucus dries out or is eaten by insects, and then it becomes noticeable that it is severely wrinkled and also has a cellular structure.
It is easy to recognize a smelly morel by its characteristic outlines.
The flesh of the smelly morel is white and spongy. At a young age, it emits a relatively neutral radish smell, but as it grows up, the morel begins to smell unpleasantly of rot and carrion.
An interesting feature of an ordinary jolly is its very rapid growth. The mushroom can stay at the egg stage for a very long time - up to several weeks. But at some point, the fruiting body begins to add literally 5 mm per minute and grows to its maximum size in just a few hours.
Is it possible to eat ordinary fun
The smelly morel belongs to the 4th category of edible mushrooms. You can eat it, but this applies only to very young mushrooms that have not yet emerged from the egg stage.As soon as an ordinary joke matures and grows, it takes on an unpleasant smell and taste and becomes unsuitable for culinary use.
Mushroom taste
Young common fun is not only allowed for consumption. In some countries, such as France, it is considered a delicacy. It tastes like raw potatoes or radishes, so it is very often added to salads to give the dish fresh and bright flavors.
Veselka has not only useful properties, but also a pleasant taste.
Benefits and harm to the body
When consumed, the young smelly morel not only pleases with a pleasant taste, but also benefits health. The composition includes the following components:
- minerals and vitamins responsible for the healthy functioning of the metabolic and digestive systems, for the body's ability to recover;
- phytoncides that strengthen immune resistance and help fight viruses;
- amino acids and protein compounds needed to build muscle fibers;
- polysaccharides important for energy production and for the healthy functioning of the immune system;
- phytosteroids, which are natural analogs of sex hormones - using ordinary fun is especially useful for men;
- alkaloids, due to their presence, the smelly morel has mild analgesic properties.
When consumed in reasonable amounts, common jellyfish protects the body from viral diseases and normalizes digestion, improves blood composition and promotes muscle growth.
At the same time, it is necessary to remember about the possible harm from the use of ordinary fun. It is recommended to remove it from the diet:
- if you have an individual allergy;
- during pregnancy and during breastfeeding;
- with a tendency to frequent constipation;
- for children under 12 years of age.
When using ordinary fun, it is important to observe small dosages. In excessive quantities, the fungus can cause intestinal discomfort, and for men, an overdose is dangerous by an increase in testosterone levels. An excess of the sex hormone negatively affects the functioning of the reproductive system and can lead to baldness.
Fruit bodies that have not emerged from the egg stage are eaten.
False doubles
In appearance, an ordinary fun can be confused with related species. Among them there are not only edible, but also unsuitable for consumption twins, so it is especially important to distinguish between mushrooms.
Edible morel
The most harmless of the doubles of an ordinary jolly is very similar to it in size and structure. At the egg stage, the mushroom has a whitish tint, in adulthood, its leg becomes yellowish or creamy, and the cap becomes reddish or yellow-brown, which makes it possible to distinguish it from a greenish or brownish-brown common fun.
Also, unlike the smelly morel, the edible species has a spongy wrinkled cap and is not covered with mucus. The edible morel is suitable for human consumption even in adulthood.
Merry Hadrian
Another mushroom similar to an ordinary jellyfish has the same dimensions, a long stem and a conical adjoining cap in adult fruit bodies. You can distinguish between varieties by color. The mature Hadrian's leg has a purple tint, and the hat is much darker than that of the smelly morel. At the stage of the egg, Hadrian's jolly is also not white, but purple.
The false double is suitable for food use. But it can be eaten, like ordinary fun, only in the early stages of development, until it has passed the egg stage.
Canine mutinus
Inexperienced mushroom pickers may confuse the smelly morel with the canine mutinus - the latter is also characterized by a long stem and a narrow conical cap adjacent to the stem. But the differences between the species are obvious.The dog's mutinus has a light yellow leg, not white. The hat of the canine mutinus is dark, almost black, with a bright red-orange “tip” located at the very top. At the stage of the egg, the mushroom also has a yellowish tint, and on this basis it is distinguished from the young ordinary jolly.
Collection rules
It is recommended to go to the forest for edible ordinary fun in mid-July, when young fruit bodies begin to appear massively from under the ground. It is necessary to look for small, not yet opened, egg-shaped jokes in the grass, they are able to please with a pleasant taste and bring considerable benefit to the body.
If the mushroom has already formed a leg and a cap, and there is a strong smell of falling nearby, then the collection should be abandoned. However, at the egg stage, the smelly morel stays for a long time, so mushroom pickers have enough time to find it in the forest in its young form.
Fruit bodies collected in ecologically clean forests are suitable for consumption.
Use
In cooking, ordinary fun is used in several ways - it is boiled and fried, dried and consumed fresh in salads. Canning and salting are rarely used. When harvested for the winter, the smelly morel loses its taste.
To use ordinary fun in the composition of the salad, it is necessary to rinse the young mushroom at the egg stage, remove mucus and impurities from it, and then salt and add to other ingredients. The mushroom goes well with green onions and sour cream and lends a light radish flavor to the salad.
To cook an ordinary fun, you need to wash it and clean the problem areas with a knife, and then put it in a pot of boiling water for literally 5 minutes. It is important not to digest a smelly morel; with prolonged heat treatment, it will lose its taste and useful properties:
Ordinary fun can be fried. To do this, the fruit bodies are cleaned of dirt, washed, cut and kept in a pan with oil and onions for only 3 minutes. To taste, you can add a little garlic to the morels, the mushroom dish goes well with mashed potatoes.
Before cooking, mucus and dense peel are removed from the fruit bodies.
Dried common jokes are especially popular. They can be stored for 2 years without losing their pleasant smell and taste. Before drying, the young mushroom must be washed, mucus and shell residues must be removed from it. Then the fruiting body is cut in half, strung on a thin thread and suspended in a cool place with a low level of humidity until the ordinary jellyfish dries completely. You can use dried mushroom with potatoes, in soups, as a filling for baking.
Application in traditional medicine
Not only the taste, but also the medicinal properties of the common jelly are highly valued. Many home remedies are prepared on the basis of the mushroom that are beneficial:
- with gastritis and ulcers;
- with erosion of the cervix and mastopathy in women;
- with gout, rheumatism and radiculitis;
- with skin ailments - dermatitis, psoriasis, eczema;
- with diabetes mellitus and malfunctioning of the thyroid gland;
- with varicose veins and thrombophlebitis;
- with heart failure;
- with nervous disorders and chronic fatigue.
The antitumor properties of the common jelly are widely known. It has been officially proven that the substances in the composition of the fungus are able to slow down and stop the development of both benign and malignant tumors. Also, the mushroom has antiviral properties and is beneficial in the fight against ARVI, influenza and other colds.
A medicinal tincture is prepared on the basis of young fruiting bodies
In folk medicine, smelly morel is most often consumed fresh or dried. Also, a medicinal tincture for alcohol is prepared from young fruiting bodies:
- the mushroom is cleaned of mucus and upper rind;
- cut into 2 parts and fill with alcohol;
- then they are kept in a dark place for 2 weeks.
They use the tincture in only 20-30 drops on an empty stomach, but at the same time it brings significant benefits.
Conclusion
Veselka vulgaris is an easily recognizable mushroom with valuable medicinal and nutritional properties. Adult specimens are not accepted for food, but young fruiting bodies can become a decoration of the table and help in the treatment of many acute and chronic diseases.
