Edible mushrooms of the Orenburg region are tasty and healthy, they are collected in large quantities for cooking and medicine. They grow throughout the season in many places in the region.
Edible mushrooms of the Orenburg region
Key Features
The climate of the region allows mushroom lovers to harvest from May to late autumn. Mushrooms in the Orenburg region are distinguished by a variety of species, therefore, when collecting, knowledge of the characteristics of edible species is required so as not to endanger your life and health.
Many edible species are eaten raw, without subjecting them to heat treatment, including russula, champignons, etc.
Conditionally edible varieties are safe for the body. They are not so tasty, but they are equally popular with the local population.
Inedibles only frighten with their name, but do not cause serious harm to health. They require long cooking and preliminary soaking, so cooks don't like them and are often used only for pickles.
Poisonous species are not consumed. It is not easy to remove toxins from them at home, only professionals with special training can do it. Some are able to create a magnificent delicacy from red fly agarics that can become the hallmark of the institution.
The receptors in the human mouth are quite sensitive, so the forest food of the first two types is divided into 4 taste categories:
- Category 1: the most fragrant, with excellent taste;
- Category 2: less tasty, with good taste;
- Category 3: Edible mushrooms of medium aroma and taste;
- Category 4: potable mushrooms of low palatability.
The first includes porcini mushrooms, mushrooms, milk mushrooms, etc. They are dried, boiled, steamed, fried, etc. They are delicious after any treatment.
Poles (Polish), slippery boletus and field mushrooms belong to the 2nd category, which is quite a bit different in taste from the 1st category mushrooms and is no less loved by gourmets.
Flywheels, mushrooms and morels are not too fragrant and are therefore included in the 3rd category, whose representatives are more often used to make pies and snacks.
The 4th category is quite specific in its characteristics. It includes conditionally edible mushrooms in the Orenburg region. They are eaten only after preliminary processing and aromatic spices and herbs are added to enhance the taste. More often they prepare salting or marinades from them.
Edible varieties
Mushroom pickers take a sharp knife, a map, a compass, a well-ventilated basket with them to the forest so that the harvest does not cake. It is worth remembering what edible and poisonous forest mushrooms look like.
Spring, summer and autumn differ in the harvest of mushrooms, each season needs a special approach.
In the Orenburg region, mushrooms are harvested in deciduous, mixed and coniferous forests. The most beloved and popular are:
- white;
- aspen mushrooms;
- spruce mushrooms;
- boletus;
- milk mushrooms are white, gray, black;
- boletus (boletus and boletus);
- chanterelles;
- waves;
- boletus;
- honey mushrooms, etc.
Different types of mushrooms can be found in the forests of the Orenburg region
In the spring, stitches and morels growing on the still unheated earth are collected. Near summer cottages, in a suburban area, podabrikosoviki appear. A rare visitor to the Orenburg region is morel, which is interesting for its appearance:
- a cap made of small cells of irregular shape or "honeycomb";
- white, extended upward leg;
- the color of the leg varies from gray to brownish-beige;
- fragile pulp with a pleasant aroma.
As soon as the apple blossom appears, these mushrooms will appear from the ground under the larch trees.
Forest and field mushrooms are equally tasty, it is good to look for them in tall grass.
White
Porcini mushrooms in the Orenburg region appear closer to autumn. They are distinguished by a thick stem and a brownish cap. The pulp is absolutely white and does not change its color even when dried. Their aroma is strong and pleasant, especially intensified during drying. But this species has poisonous counterparts - it is a gall mushroom with bitter and pulp and satanic, which is distinguished by a black mesh on the leg.
Boletus
Aspen mushrooms are widespread throughout the Orenburg region. They have a brown fleshy cap with a tubular surface at the bottom. On the leg there are scales, by which the boletus is easy to distinguish from similar poisonous species. Sizes depend on weather conditions, but specimens of this species are more often found large. Grows in deciduous forests from August to late October.
Irina Selyutina (Biologist):
Almost all types of boletus boletus have approximately the same taste. Therefore, mushroom pickers do not always distinguish between any specific species. But, nevertheless, it is better to study the directory of mushrooms in order to go on a "quiet hunt" to know what you are carrying home in a basket.
The aroma is strong and pleasant. The pulp is dense, does not change color on the cut. This mushroom is best harvested in dry weather. worms love it.
Milk mushrooms
Nutritious and healthy autumn yellow milk mushrooms are a specialty of this region. It is easy to recognize them: the hat is yellow, in the shape of a ball in young ones, and in older specimens it is concave inward. The pulp is saturated with juice similar to milk, so the mushroom requires good pre-processing: steeping and boiling. Only after that it becomes juicy and loses its characteristic bitter aftertaste.
They grow in small groups in conifers, sometimes found under deciduous trees.
Ryzhiki
Ryzhiks are loved by everyone for their appearance and excellent taste characteristics. They are fragrant and easy to clean, they are pleasant to cook with. There is nothing better than a salty mushroom snack.
Irina Selyutina (Biologist):
Ginger in its appearance differs well from other mushrooms. Its rounded-convex, and then broad-funnel-shaped, with a diameter of 3-11 cm, the cap is characterized by a slightly closed cap in young fungi and a straight edge in older specimens. The skin is smooth, moist, sticky, with concentric zones that are darker in comparison with the main color of the cap. The plates are orange-yellow, adherent to the stem, turn green when pressed. The leg is the same color as the cap. A parasite settles on these mushrooms - the brick-red pikiella mushroom, which causes a reduction in the plates and makes the mushrooms unsuitable for collection and cooking. The advantage of saffron milk caps over other edible mushrooms is that they do not need to be soaked beforehand. You just need to wipe well and at the same time carefully (so as not to damage) with a damp cloth, remove adhering leaves and other forest debris from the surface, and also cut off the lower part of the leg.
Forest blocks of clearings are places where these fungi grow. In the spring they are well warmed up by the sun. By the end of summer, whole families of saffron milk caps are found in such areas. Red caps are visible from a distance, inside (from the bottom side) they are lamellar, have curved and wavy edges, similar to lace. An orange-yellow juice appears on the cut. Their legs are curved, curved below. They are fragile and have a pleasant smell.
Oil
Lovers of quiet hunting are familiar with boletus, owners of a slippery hat. Their description is as follows:
- average value;
- the color of the cap is brown;
- the surface is covered with a thin layer of sticky mucus;
- the leg is dense, short;
- the pulp has a pleasant aroma;
- at the break, the flesh is olive or pale yellowish.
Boletus grows in the Orenburg region in tall grass, form mycorrhiza with spruce or pines. They prefer light spaces between these conifers.
Mushroom picking in Orenburg
Mushroom places Where to pick mushrooms
Autumn mushrooms / Types of autumn mushrooms / Walk in the forest
Collection points
The mushroom places of the Orenburg region are famous for the variety of forest delicacies.
- village Tugustimir, Tyulgansky district: in the fall, it is full of honey agarics, mushrooms and boletus.
- Nizhnyaya Pavlovka, Orenburg district: mushrooms grow here at every step throughout the season.
- Boevaya Gora village, Sol-Ilyetsky district: in the forest area belonging to this village, boletus and oyster mushrooms grow.
- villages Kryuchkovka and Rozhdestvenka, Belyaevsky district: are famous for porcini and milk mushrooms.
- Zaglyadino village, Alekseevsky district: there are many mushroom places near this settlement. Honey mushrooms, russula and mushrooms are constantly growing here.
To collect more mushrooms and aspen mushrooms, it is better to go to the village of Almala.
Conclusion
Locals prefer to collect edible mushrooms in the Orenburg region for harvesting for the winter, drying, salting or freezing. Anyone, an experienced mushroom picker or a beginner, will find a favorite mushroom for themselves in this region and reap a good harvest if they do not neglect the tips and certain rules of mushroom pickers that have been developed over the years.