Morels and strings are the first spring mushrooms. Collecting lines - “silent hunt” or “Russian roulette”
Friends and acquaintances joke that I write culinary recipes in this blog, which would be useful for a section on how to survive in extreme conditions. Today I’ll tell you how to properly cook morel and stitch mushrooms. And all so that my favorite joke about mushrooms, that they are all edible, but some only once, does not become a reason for someone to actually try the last mushroom dish. I would like to immediately draw your attention to the fact that these mushrooms cannot be eaten raw or fried without heat treatment, that is, boiling them in water with salt, after which the broth is poured out. I don’t do a lot of illustrations on purpose, so that readers will pay more attention to the story itself, and not start cooking while looking at the pictures. It is in the spring that these mushrooms can be collected, so they are valuable in their own way, but in order to deliver flavor from food, they need to be cooked correctly.
Until I start giving good advice, I’ll talk a little about these mushrooms and food in general. Strings and morels belong to the class of ascomycetes (Latin Ascomycota, from the Greek ἀσκός - bag) or marsupial fungi. IN different sources these mushrooms are called edible, conditionally edible and inedible. People often confuse the name of these mushrooms, or in general all mushrooms of the morel order are called morels or strings. I admit that several years ago I first started collecting and preparing these mushrooms, although I tried them much earlier. Their value is that they appear very first as soon as the snow melts. Then I decided to figure out their names for myself, based on what I read on the Internet, I wrote a post “”, where I invite readers to understand all the differences and similarities.
Maybe for the general consumer of these mushrooms there is no difference because in the spring these mushrooms cannot be confused with any others in our country, since no others grow in the forest in April-May. What made me find the difference between morels and stitches? First of all, there is conflicting information about the edibility and inedibility of the lines. During the Soviet era, mushrooms were usually divided into categories nutritional value, of which there were four, and the highest was the first. Then morels and strings were classified in the third category, along with chanterelles, black milk mushrooms, russula and other mushrooms. Then morels and lines were prepared food industry and they were sold. But then, as I read in different sources, the lines were attributed to not edible mushrooms, since there have been cases of poisoning with them. At first, the cause of poisoning was considered to be helvellic acid, which, as it turned out, does not exist at all, but they found gyromitrin, which is not completely removed from common morels by boiling or prolonged hot drying.
I would like to note that detailed information I could not find anything about gyromitrine, except that it is a derivative of hydrazine, as well as signs of poisoning with it, which do not differ from signs of other poisoning. I found information that the giant morel and other mushrooms of the Helwellaceae family contain hydromyrin, but only the common morel, of those mushrooms that were previously called conditionally edible, was classified as inedible. The most interesting thing is that the stitches are prohibited for sale in some countries, but in some they are sold. Morels are still classified as mushrooms that can be eaten, but must be processed before use. In the USA and Europe, morels are sold at a fairly high price - approximately 100-150 US dollars per kilogram. To say that I myself have thoroughly read everything about lines and morels would not be true, but I have developed my own attitude towards them, which I share with the readers of this blog.
On some forum I read (perhaps not even Russian-speaking) the arguments of mushroom pickers. I liked the opinion that in the world modern business There is also competition in the mushroom market. There they suggested that morels were helped to become inedible mushrooms producers of champignons, oyster mushrooms and mushrooms that humans have learned to grow artificially. We were able to achieve this ban not without the help of the famous “scientists of the British university”, on whose behalf it is easy to give credibility to any absurd news. After all, how many “British scientists” are there who say that food products with chemical additives with the taste of the same mushrooms are healthy, while those products were not even close to the mushrooms, and the products themselves are made from completely different products, for example, like crab sticks, which only have a name from the crab.
From all of the above, I want to draw my own conclusion about morels. Our ancestors ate them and lived for a long time, without knowing many diseases. Maybe I'm wrong, but many drugs are poison, which small quantities can be useful for the body. And I’d rather take some of the content contained in these mushrooms toxic substance, what I will eat with chemical flavors and taste enhancers. I have been eating these mushrooms for several years now, and I could eat them for several days in a row, and I am still alive. It is not recommended to consume mushrooms for children, pregnant women, nursing mothers, the sick, those with certain diseases, and possibly other categories of people. Everyone should know for themselves what they can eat and what they cannot. So make a decision for yourself whether to use lines or not, and I’ll move on to the story of how I prepare lines and morels myself. If you decide not to use the lines, then the tips will be useful for preparing morels.
When preparing strings and morels, there are several secrets that you definitely need to know. About what they definitely needs to be boiled I said above, but they still need to be thoroughly cleaned and this needs to be done correctly. There is a lot of sand in morels and strings, and insects also like to hide in them. Mushrooms are very fragile and crumble easily, so when collecting them you need to carefully put them in a basket. Having brought them home, I carefully take them out and place them one by one in a large container in which I will boil them. I'm lying down legs up and pour cold water . If you are not a fan of Thai cuisine (eating bugs, spiders, snails, insects, centipedes), then this is one of the mandatory stages. Water will help get rid of the first batch of insects that will begin to escape from the mushroom sinuses. Then let the soaked mushrooms stand for a while sprinkle with salt and put on fire. I used to just scald them, but then it would be a lot more work to get the dead bugs out of them.
Basically I'm everything I boil the mushrooms twice, but morels and lines are a must. The first time, after boiling water, I boil 5-10 minutes. Then, I'm draining hot water and wash the mushrooms cold water . At this stage I get rid of the first batch of sand. After this, I begin the most important and tedious work - sorting through the mushrooms, which stop crumbling after boiling. Mushrooms needed carefully examine, tearing all the sinuses, removing debris in the form of needles, leaves and twigs, as well as insects that did not run away when the mushrooms were poured with cold water. I don't eat legs, I separate them to throw them away. Before putting each mushroom in a container for the second boiling, I wash it in clean cold or warm water, getting rid of another piece of sand. Thoroughly I salt the peeled mushrooms again and boil them a second time, boil 15-20 minutes after the water boils.
I strain the boiled mushrooms through a colander and I wash it several times with cold water to finally get rid of the sand.. I want to admit that with all this washing and rinsing, sometimes the sand crunches on the teeth. In such cases, I remember the words of my mother’s friend, who said that a person should eat a certain norm sand, which nature hides in some mushrooms and plants, which are no matter how mine - sand will be present in them. After all this, the mushrooms are ready for further cooking. I’m not giving any special recipes here. See for yourself what you want to cook. You can cook soup, you can fry it, you can stuff something with mushrooms. Personally, I like to make gravy for potatoes by frying mushrooms and onions on sunflower oil with the addition of milk or sour cream, flour, pepper and various spices. Believe me, there is nothing tastier than the first spring mushrooms! Bon appetit!
It is possible that this post appeared late this year; the time for morels and lines has already passed. Remember that fall morels are inedible, so you can look for them until the next spring mushroom hunting season. additional information about what I don’t know about these mushrooms. I invite you to read last year’s post “”, where you will find a story about how I prepare a salad from dandelions, which are now in abundance - this is a joke at the beginning of this post about survival in extreme conditions. I also want to remind you that very soon there will be another mushrooms that I simply adore - these are the umbrellas that the post “” was about. Maybe someone will be interested in a project on the world around us, which children study at school from the first grade, and then it turns out that the world couldn't study it in my whole life. I wish everyone harmony with nature and within themselves!
Common string belongs to the category of medicinal mushrooms. Despite its toxic properties, stitch mushroom is widely used in folk medicine. Stochka tincture is an analgesic and is used to relieve joint pain.
In Russia, they are wary of preparing strings, but in many countries these mushrooms are considered a delicacy and are widely used for drying, frying and making soups.
In this article we will tell you how to prepare stitches and what to do if poisoning with common stitch occurs. You can also read a description of the mushrooms, see photos of mushrooms and learn about the toxic properties of poisonous mushrooms.
Family: Discinaceae.
Synonyms: edible string, stick mushroom, pestrika, veal offal.
Description. The fruit body is up to 14 cm in diameter. The cap is irregularly rounded or angular, hollow inside, deeply wrinkled (brain-shaped), light brown-brown to dark or chocolate brown, becoming somewhat lighter with age.
Pay attention to the photo of the ordinary line: the flesh of the mushroom is white, waxy, thin, very brittle, with a peculiar smell, without much taste. Leg 3-6 X 1.5-6 cm, whitish or grayish (sometimes with a pinkish tint), hollow, narrowed towards the base, smooth or folded.
A soil fungus that inhabits deciduous and coniferous forests, grows on sandy soil at the edges of forests, in clearings, burnt areas, along roads, in young pine plantings. Found throughout the forest zone of Russia, except for the Far North, singly or in small groups, infrequently. Fruits from late March to early June.
The line is characterized by the formation of geographical races, one of the main differences of which is different level toxicity. Research by French biochemists has shown that mushrooms collected in more warm regions, accumulate significantly more high level toxins.
Similar species. An ordinary line has several similar species. The stick differs from the giant stitch (Discina gigas) by a much darker cap and significantly smaller size, from the Carolina discina (also known as the tufted or brown stitch) (Discina carolinensis = Gyromitra fastigiata = G.brunnea) it differs in a darker and more “brain-shaped” cap with not so openly with edges that have not grown to the leg.
Common stitch and its toxic properties
ABOUT toxic properties The line has been known for over 100 years. However, due to the variety of manifestations of poisoning, many experts attributed them to individual allergic reactions or even an erroneous diagnosis (poisoning with other mushrooms or products). Moreover, there are cases where some people who ate approximately the same number mushrooms from one dish, “earned” poisoning, but their neighbors at the table did not. It is also well known that some mushroom pickers have been collecting and preparing strings for many years without any negative effect. However, according to recent biochemical studies, the common string is recognized as a poisonous and even deadly poisonous mushroom.
Certain geographic races of G. esculenta have been confirmed to contain high levels of a toxin known as gyromitrin. Gyromitrine poisoning is extremely rare in North America. Western Europe. Data for Siberia are unknown, but cases of poisoning are quite common in countries of Eastern Europe(to the border with Russia) and Scandinavia. In 1971, Polish researchers found that in Poland total mushroom poisoning 23% comes from lines. Number of registered fatal poisonings has been declining since the middle of the last century; in Sweden, for example, where stitch poisoning is very common, not a single one is known death since 1952 Decreased and total number poisoning, apparently due to the widespread practice of proper culinary processing of these mushrooms, however, the average European level of deaths from string poisoning is still about 25%.
The lethal dose of gyromitrin is 10-30 mg per kg of body weight for children and 20-50 mg/kg for adults. This roughly corresponds (for gyromitrin-rich geographic races) to 0.20.6 kg and 0.4-1 kg fresh mushrooms. However, individual stability specific people can greatly affect the activity of gyromitrin, up to almost complete lack of response to the indicated doses.
Research into toxins began in 1968, when gyromitrin was first identified as acetaldehyde (N-methyl-N-formylhydrazone). In the body, gyromitrin is hydrolyzed to monomethylhydrazine.
The toxin reacts with pyridoxal-5-phosphate (the activated form of pyridoxine) and forms the substance hydrazone. Hydrazone reduces the production of neurotransmitters by inhibiting glutamic acid decarboxylase, which leads to the appearance of characteristic neurological symptoms of intoxication. In addition, monomethylhydrazine causes methemoglobinemia and promotes the formation of methyl radicals, which leads to liver necrosis. Histaminase inhibition increases histamine levels, leading to headaches, nausea, diarrhea and stomach pain.
The main symptoms of stitch poisoning are divided into gastrointestinal and neurological. They are detected 6-12 hours after consumption, although there are cases where intoxication manifested itself after 2 hours. Initially they manifest themselves as facial redness, nausea, diarrhea, and stomach pain. Further possible tremors, convulsions, lethargy, ataxia, dizziness and severe headaches, as well as fever (the latter is not typical for any mushroom poisoning and occurs only as a symptom of stitch poisoning). In most cases, after such manifestations, gradual recovery occurs within 2-6 days.
In particularly severe cases, damage to the kidneys and liver and neurological dysfunction, including falling into a coma, are possible. With such a serious injury, death can occur 5-7 days after consuming the lines.
In addition to toxicity, monomethylhydrazine has been shown to be carcinogenic (studies on laboratory animals). And although it has not been confirmed for humans, some researchers believe that the toxin may have a cumulative effect, and sooner or later, even a small number of rows eaten can lead to the formation of a tumor.
How to prepare a tincture from strings
In folk medicine vodka tincture the stitch is used as an analgesic and is used to relieve pain, primarily for various types of joint diseases, arthritis, radiculitis, rheumatism, polyarthritis, osteochondrosis, foot spurs, overgrown bones, neuralgia, as well as for the treatment of pancreatitis and pancreas, with oncology late stages when pain relief is needed.
The tincture is made from crushed dry mushrooms. To do this, pour 10 g of powder into 150 ml of vodka and, after stirring, close tightly and leave in the refrigerator for two weeks. Rub the tincture into the skin of the affected areas and cover with a warm woolen “prickly” scarf.
It is also known that in the past, eyes were washed with a decoction of stitches for conjunctivitis.
Stitch preparation and culinary preparation
Young and mature fruiting bodies are collected for boiling or drying.
Despite their proven toxicity, the stitches are widely collected in many countries North America and Europe. For example, strings are still considered a delicacy and are actively collected in Bulgaria, Spain and Finland.
With proper culinary preparation, ordinary stitches are lost most gyromitrine. Recommended methods include drying followed by boiling or boiling fresh mushrooms with the obligatory draining of the broth.
It has been shown that with repeated boiling, the level of gyromitrin decreases by an order of magnitude each time, while the amount of water should be three times the number of lines, boiling should last at least 5 minutes, and after each cycle, the boiled mushrooms should be washed with cold water. When drying in the open air on the tenth day, the concentration of gyromitrin decreases by 90%.
The sale of ordinary stitching is prohibited on markets in Russia, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden and Italy. In Russian conditions, the mushroom should be considered edible after preliminary boiling with draining of the broth or prolonged drying. Used for preparing first and second courses, appetizers and fillings.
Line, a mushroom with a shapeless wrinkled cap, was considered conditionally edible in the USSR and was allowed by GOST for preparation. The study of the toxic substances contained in the line allowed scientists to conclude: the mushroom can cause severe poisoning due to the gyromitrin it contains.
Common stitch, photo from Wikipedia
Description stitch
(Gyromitra esculenta). This spring mushroom appears in late April - May. It reacts to frost by the appearance of small blackened spots. The thawed morel continues to grow as if nothing had happened. More common in pine forests(especially on sandy soil and loam). It is found in clearings, clearings, burnt areas and along forest roads. Often under old birch and spruce trees.
The lines have a shapeless, wrinkled, sinuously wavy cap, the edges of which are partially fused with the stem. The height of the cap is from 2 to 10 cm. This folded cap can be yellowish, brown, red-brown or brown. As the mushroom matures, it becomes lighter. Sometimes the stitches are compared to heavily crumpled scraps of velor or suede, to which a short leg was attached. The body of the line is filled with “convolutions”. The leg (2 - 5 cm long, 1.5 - 3 cm in diameter) is swollen, uneven, sometimes folded. Its color is white, yellowish, reddish or with a purple tint. The almost white flesh of the string has a faint smell of dampness or a mushroom aroma. It is cartilaginous and breaks easily.
Autumn stitch (Gyromitra infula). This mushroom appears from late summer in pine and mixed forests(pine + birch). The time of its main growth occurs in September - October. The autumn line often grows in mountainous areas. In some years, there is a massive appearance of autumn stitches in lowland areas. The autumn line's hat is shaped like a twisted piece of a brain. It is chestnut, brown or brown, almost black at the edges. The height (and diameter) of the cap is from 6 to 15 cm. The stem is white, cream, reddish or light brown. Its thickness is up to 3 cm.
In addition to these two types, there are also giant stitch (big) with an impressive cap size up to 30 cm in diameter!
How not to get poisoned by a line?
In the USSR, the line was allowed by GOST in the workpiece and was considered conditionally edible mushroom. At that time, the cause of stitch poisoning was considered to be Helvella acid. That is why the recommendation arose to first boil the mushroom for 10 - 15 minutes, and then drain the water. Unfortunately, such preliminary preparation of lines did not always save people from terrible poisoning. Often they ended tragically. In the process of studying the lines, it turned out that they do not contain helvelic acid, but there is another toxin - gyromitrin. It is its action that causes poisoning, similar to poisoning by the poison of the toadstool. In some mushrooms the concentration of gyromitrin is high, in other mushrooms this toxin accumulates less. Then poisoning can be avoided. Professor S.G. Musselius, who for many years has not only been studying the impact poisonous mushrooms on the human body, but also pulls people out of the other world, explains it this way:
The toxic substance contained in the lines is gyromitrin. In the composition of the mushroom mass, gyromitrin is found not only in the form of a free fraction, but also in the form of various compounds. The most pronounced changes in the body occur from exposure to monomethylhydrazine. In new lines, the content of this substance can vary widely. This is determined by seasonality, soil composition, weather conditions, degree of maturity of the mushroom. The concentration can range from 50 to 300 mg/kg, but in some cases reaches 1200 - 1600 mg/kg.
The lethal concentration of gyromitrin for an adult is 20 - 50 mg/kg, for children 10 - 30 mg/kg. When converted to the amount of fresh mushrooms, the lethal concentration is achieved when an adult takes 400 - 1000 g of mushrooms. Maximum amount highly toxic compounds are formed during the process of breakdown in the intestines and liver 2 - 2.5 hours after ingestion (S.G. Musselius “Poisonous Mushrooms”).
German scientists discovered that in fresh lines collected in Germany, many fruiting bodies mushrooms had 1676 mg/kg gyromitrin. They noted that the results of analyzes of lines found in some other countries were much better (Plant Life, Volume 2, Fungi).
Most cases of string poisoning occur when people do not boil them first or boil them for 5 - 10 minutes. For lines, the minimum boiling time, according to S.G. Musselius, - 25 - 30 minutes. During this time, some of the gyromitrin compounds go into the decoction, and some are destroyed. For 1 kg of mushrooms, about 2.5 - 3 liters of water are required. Not less! In most reference books for mushroom pickers, the lines advise boiling for 10 - 15 minutes, then draining the broth and not trying. Doctors who have had to save people poisoned by stitches more than once advise boiling mushrooms twice, adding fresh water. After each time you need to rinse the mushrooms clean water. Repeated use of the decoction only causes harm, since the concentration of the toxin in the mushrooms greatly increases. And this threatens the development of acute renal failure. Using lines prepared according to all the rules several times in a row can also end badly. The interval between meals with lines should be at least two days. Often repeated use of lines causes general malaise which ends in jaundice. It is worth saying that there are lucky people with low individual sensitivity to the poison of the lines.
Professor S.G. Musselius introduces the clinic of poisoning with lines. It is useful to know for fans of these spring mushrooms. The first symptoms of poisoning appear 3 to 25 hours after the lines have been eaten. These are abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, diarrhea. Urine becomes Pink colour. During this period, red blood cells breakdown occurs. On the second or third day, the poison begins to affect the kidneys and liver. In severe cases, an unconscious state develops on the third or fourth day. It is accompanied by skin hemorrhages, jaundice, increased heart rate and decreased blood pressure. Further, all hope is only in God and in doctors, who often have to connect an “artificial kidney”.
For those daredevils who still have the desire to try their luck for a plate of stewed strings, here are a couple of recipes delicious lines in sour cream. Just in case, in the article you can find out the numbers of the Ambulance and rescue services.
How to prepare stitches
Lines in sour cream. Mushrooms are pre-boiled in large quantities water (for 25 - 30 minutes), then the broth is drained. It can no longer be used! After this, the stitches are washed in cold water and wrung out. Cut the mushrooms into small pieces, add a little water and keep on the fire for another 15 minutes. Then the lines are salted, sour cream is added and brought to a boil.
Lines in sour cream(another variant). The lines, boiled for 25 - 30 minutes in a large amount of water, are washed in cold water and squeezed. Then they are chopped, rolled in flour, salted and fried in oil. After 15 minutes, add sour cream and bring to a boil. Before serving, the lines are sprinkled with herbs.
According to “literary information”, lines that are fried without adding liquid become hard and “rubbery”. They taste better with sauce. And one more piece of advice: in the spring it is better to collect morels rather than strings. They are much safer. You can read about this spring mushroom in the article.
© "Podmoskovye", 2012-2018. Copying texts and photographs from the site podmoskоvje.com is prohibited. All rights reserved.In spring there is little mushroom availability - almost only the well-known morels and strings, and much less popular ones tree mushrooms tinder fungi delight the mushroom picker, who went out for the first “quiet hunt” in May. However, it is fundamentally wrong to believe that the first mushrooms are not as tasty as the classic porcini mushrooms, boletus mushrooms and milk mushrooms. You just need to know how to collect and cook them.
The main difference between early mushrooms and later ones is that they are classified as conditionally edible. The term seems scary, but, in fact, you need to fulfill certain preparation conditions - and the conditionally edible mushroom will become a gastronomic delight and a delight to the stomach.
Let's get acquainted: morels, lines, tinder fungi
In the West and in the USA, morels (but not strings!) are very popular. Among Americans they are considered one of the most delicious mushrooms and he is called the "king of mushrooms". In the USA, not a single lover of “silent hunting” will ever tell you where he collects morels. However, no one will ask him such a question: asking about this is considered completely tactless.
Common morel
How to find out
The cap is unevenly spherical or ovoid in shape. The cap has uneven ribs forming irregular wavy cells. The leg at the base is widened, whitish, and also hollow. The color of the cap is most often ocher, brownish, but it can also be brownish or grayish (occasionally).
Where to meet
Morels love deciduous ones light forests. Does not avoid parks, gardens, meadows. You can also find it on the banks of rivers, on their high slopes - especially flooded ones. The time for morels is May.
Regular and large stitch (giant)
How to find out
The surface of the cap is not cellular, but folded, wavy and sinuous, similar to a peeled core walnut. The stem of the stitches is very short, sometimes there is almost none. In section, the body of the line is filled with partitions and convolutions, including the leg.
Where to meet
The lines grow almost in the same place as the morels. They especially love clearings, fires, and soil cleared of turf.
Yolks, or scientifically, sulfur-yellow tinder fungus
How to find out
In the book “Mushrooms” by M. Sergeeva, the tinder fungus is described as follows: “Imagine that inside the trunk of an old hollow oak tree goblins spread a yellow dough, it “escaped” and crawled out through cracks and crevices in the bark, and froze just like that - in bubbles and sagging.” The mushroom is edible just in the “dough” stage; when young it is so soft and tender, somewhat reminiscent of an omelette in taste.
Where to meet
The tinder fungus likes to settle on broad-leaved trees: oaks, elms, walnuts and Manchurian nuts, less often on poplar, willow, birch, alder. In Siberia, this mushroom lives on larches.
Variegated tinder fungus
How to find out
The huge saucers of this mushroom are often saddle-shaped. The yellowish cap has large brown scales. The leg is thick, short on the side, dark brown at the base, dense and hard, even in young mushrooms.
Where to meet
The tinder fungus settles on fallen ones, on old rotten ones. But - broad-leaved trees. You can find such trees in the forest, in the park, in the old garden. Sometimes families of pieds can be seen in the city, on a burnt tree.
How to properly cook primeval mushrooms
All first mushrooms - morels, strings (especially!), and tinder fungi require serious processing before eating. First, they should be cleaned, cut, washed, sparing no water. Then boil in a large amount of water for 10-15 minutes, pour out the broth without trying, since helvelic acid passes into it during cooking.
You need to boil morels at least three times. Some experts believe that morels and strings should be boiled in two or three batches in a significant amount of water for at least an hour.
Boiled mushrooms need to be washed again plenty of water, squeeze thoroughly and only then put in soup or fry.
Morels are known in hundreds of recipes - both European and Russian cuisine. Baking with morels is great. In the Russian tradition, boiled morels are mixed with rice, eggs and fried onions in the filling for a pie or kulebyaki. Morels are the basis for mushroom sauces, for mushroom caviar and various soups.
Despite the “conditional” classification as edible mushrooms, morels are dried or frozen for the winter.
Oleg Demidov, chef of the Godunov restaurant, comments:
Morel, string, tinder fungus - these mushrooms have been present next to humans since time immemorial. The first mentions of morels date back to the period of Kievan Rus.
Some people love these mushrooms, like the writer I. Turgenev, but others don’t. It's a matter of taste. My opinion is this: what nature gives is from God, just use it correctly.
It’s a pity that in Russia these mushrooms are not often used in cooking. They have the elegant taste of the forest, namely the forest, not the greenhouse. They do not contain the chemistry that modern champignons, oyster mushrooms, and tasteless porcini mushrooms are filled with.
It’s a pleasure to work with the first mushrooms, and it’s a pleasure to surprise the guest fresh mushroom from Russian forests. To be honest, I myself have cooked only two types: morels and strings, but in Russia, and in Vienna, and in London, and in Amsterdam. You know, without false modesty I will say that those dishes that included morels or strings were masterpieces.
Now I’ll reveal some secrets.
You need to know how to handle mushrooms - then they will not cause harm, but, on the contrary, they will give you taste.
First, the mushrooms must be washed well, then soaked in salted water for 20-30 minutes to remove worms (if any).
My advice: pour the mushrooms, washed after soaking, with brine from under sauerkraut for about 1-2 hours. The taste of the mushroom will be ten times stronger. And, what is important: after brining, the mushrooms will be completely safe.
Sauces are prepared from morels and strings, baked in sour cream, soups are prepared, served with crayfish, fish, stuffed with veal, fried and baked with turnips, potatoes... The morel is a universal mushroom.
Friends and acquaintances joke that I write culinary recipes on this blog, which would be useful for a column on how to survive in extreme conditions. Today I’ll tell you how to properly cook morel and stitch mushrooms. And all so that my favorite joke about mushrooms, that they are all edible, but some only once, does not become a reason for someone to actually try the last mushroom dish. I would like to immediately draw your attention to the fact that these mushrooms cannot be eaten raw or fried without heat treatment, that is, boiling them in water with salt, after which the broth is poured out. I don’t do a lot of illustrations on purpose, so that readers will pay more attention to the story itself, and not start cooking while looking at the pictures. It is in the spring that these mushrooms can be collected, so they are valuable in their own way, but in order to deliver flavor from food, they need to be cooked correctly.
While I’m starting to give practical advice, I’ll talk a little about these mushrooms and food in general. Strings and morels belong to the class of ascomycetes (Latin Ascomycota, from the Greek ἀσκός - bag) or marsupial fungi. In different sources, these mushrooms are called edible, conditionally edible and inedible. People often confuse the name of these mushrooms, or in general all mushrooms of the morel order are called morels or strings. I admit that several years ago I first started collecting and preparing these mushrooms, although I tried them much earlier. Their value is that they appear very first as soon as the snow melts. Then I decided to figure out their names for myself, based on what I read on the Internet, I wrote a post " Stitches and morels", where I invite readers to understand all the differences and similarities.
Maybe for the general consumer of these mushrooms there is no difference because in the spring these mushrooms cannot be confused with any others in our country, since no others grow in the forest in April-May. What made me find the difference between morels and stitches? First of all, there is conflicting information about the edibility and inedibility of the lines. During the Soviet era, it was customary to divide mushrooms into categories of nutritional value, of which there were four, and the first was the highest. Then morels and strings were classified in the third category, along with chanterelles, black milk mushrooms, russula and other mushrooms. At that time, morels and strings were harvested by the food industry and sold. But then, as I read in various sources, the lines were attributed to inedible mushrooms, since there were cases of poisoning with them. At first, the cause of poisoning was considered to be helvellic acid, which, as it turned out, does not exist at all, but they found gyromitrin, which is not completely removed from common morels by boiling or prolonged hot drying.
I would like to note that I could not find detailed information about gyromitrin, except that it is a derivative of hydrazine, as well as signs of poisoning with it, which do not differ from signs of other poisoning. I found information that the giant morel and other mushrooms of the Helwellaceae family contain hydromyrin, but only the common morel, of those mushrooms that were previously called conditionally edible, was classified as inedible. The most interesting thing is that the stitches are prohibited for sale in some countries, but in some they are sold. Morels are still classified as mushrooms that can be eaten, but must be processed before use. In the USA and Europe, morels are sold at a fairly high price - approximately 100-150 US dollars per kilogram. To say that I myself have thoroughly read everything about lines and morels would not be true, but I have developed my own attitude towards them, which I share with the readers of this blog.
On some forum I read (perhaps not even Russian-speaking) the arguments of mushroom pickers. I liked the idea that in the world of modern business there is competition in the mushroom market. They suggested that morels were helped to become inedible mushrooms by producers of champignons, oyster mushrooms and mushrooms, which humans learned to grow artificially. We were able to achieve this ban not without the help of the famous “scientists of the British university”, on whose behalf it is easy to give credibility to any absurd news. After all, how many “British scientists” are there who say that food products with chemical additives with the taste of the same mushrooms are healthy, while those products were not even close to mushrooms, and the products themselves are made from completely different products, for example, like crab sticks that only have a name from the crab.
From all of the above, I want to draw my own conclusion about morels. Our ancestors ate them and lived for a long time, without knowing many diseases. Maybe I'm wrong, but many medications are poison, which in small quantities can be beneficial to the body. And I’d rather take some of the toxic substance contained in these mushrooms than eat chemical flavorings and taste enhancers. I have been eating these mushrooms for several years now, and I could eat them for several days in a row, and I am still alive. It is not recommended to consume mushrooms for children, pregnant women, nursing mothers, the sick, those with certain diseases, and possibly other categories of people. Everyone should know for themselves what they can eat and what they cannot. So make a decision for yourself whether to use lines or not, and I’ll move on to the story of how I prepare lines and morels myself. If you decide not to use the lines, then the tips will be useful for preparing morels.
When preparing strings and morels, there are several secrets that you definitely need to know. About what they definitely needs to be boiled I said above, but they still need to be thoroughly cleaned and this needs to be done correctly. There is a lot of sand in morels and strings, and insects also like to hide in them. Mushrooms are very fragile and crumble easily, so when collecting them you need to carefully put them in a basket. Having brought them home, I carefully take them out and place them one by one in a large container in which I will boil them. I'm lying down feet up and fill with cold water. If you are not a fan of Thai cuisine (eating bugs, spiders, snails, insects, centipedes), then this is one of the mandatory stages. Water will help get rid of the first batch of insects that will begin to escape from the mushroom sinuses. Then let the soaked mushrooms stand for a while sprinkle with salt and put on fire. I used to just scald them, but then it would be a lot more work to get the dead bugs out of them.
Basically I'm everything I boil the mushrooms twice, but morels and lines are a must. The first time, after boiling water, I boil 5-10 minutes. Then, I drain the hot water and wash the mushrooms in cold water. At this stage I get rid of the first batch of sand. After this, I begin the most important and tedious work - sorting through the mushrooms, which stop crumbling after boiling. Mushrooms needed carefully examine, tearing all the sinuses, removing debris in the form of needles, leaves and twigs, as well as insects that did not run away when the mushrooms were poured with cold water. I don't eat legs, I separate them to throw them away. Before putting each mushroom in a container for the second boiling, I wash it in clean cold or warm water, getting rid of another part of the sand. Thoroughly I salt the peeled mushrooms again and boil them a second time, boil 15-20 minutes after the water boils.
I strain the boiled mushrooms through a colander and I wash it several times with cold water to finally get rid of the sand.. I want to admit that with all this washing and rinsing, sometimes the sand crunches on the teeth. In such cases, I remember the words of my mother’s friend, who said that a person must eat a certain amount of sand per year, which nature hides in some mushrooms and plants, which, no matter how they are mine, will contain sand. After all this, the mushrooms are ready for further cooking. I’m not giving any special recipes here. See for yourself what you want to cook. You can cook soup, you can fry it, you can stuff something with mushrooms. Personally, I like to make gravy for potatoes by frying mushrooms and onions in sunflower oil with the addition of milk or sour cream, flour, pepper and various spices. Believe me, there is nothing tastier than the first spring mushrooms! Bon appetit!
It is possible that this post appeared late this year; the time for morels and lines has already passed. Remember that fall morels are not edible, so before the next spring mushroom hunting season, you can look for more information about what you don’t know about these mushrooms. I invite you to read last year's post" Dandelion time or whether the useless can be useful? ", where you will find a story about how I prepare a salad from dandelions, which are now in abundance - this is in reference to the joke at the beginning of this post about survival in extreme conditions. I also want to remind you that very soon there will be another mushroom that I simply adore - this umbrellas about which there was a post" Umbrella - mushroom with fish flavor"Maybe someone will be interested in a project on the surrounding world, which children study at school from the first grade, and then it turns out that they could not study the surrounding world in their entire lives. I wish everyone harmony with nature and within themselves!
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