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| Saffron Milk Cap |
I have been foraging and eating these mushrooms for years. They are a wonderful seasonal wild food that are easily found if you know where and when to look. The Saffron Milk Cap is a terracotta orange colour with distinctive darkening rings and reddish-pink gills on the underside. The Slippery Jack is dark brown on top, has a slimy appearance when wet, with bright yellow spongy gills on the underside.
These are both introduced species that form a mycorrizal association with pines trees.
Saffron Milk Caps don't instinctively look like a mushroom that is edible. When cut they bleed bright orange milk and when bruised they turn green. As for slippery Jacks they just look like slime with a bright yellow sponge underneath.This can be off putting to the uninitiated. Most people would think that this indicates that they are poisonous, not that they are edible and delicious. They are well known in Europe, in Australia they are well regarded but quite scarce, prized by Melbourne chefs and found in farmers markets occasionally. When foraging for these mushrooms, it is better to choose young firm specimens as the older ones are prone to insect damage. Always harvest mushrooms with a knife cutting off at the base of the stem to ensure a future harvest. I think that Saffron Milk Caps in particular are such an easily identifiable mushroom, you can't really make an error in mistaking it for anything else. That said, if in doubt, do not eat it!
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| Slippery Jack cap and Saffron Milk cap underside gills |
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| The Slippery Jack in the middle showing its spongy underside |
Disclaimer: the author will not be held liable for any ill effects resulting from misidentification of mushrooms based on this post.
humanform.info/mushrooms/mushroom.htm
http://www.oberonaustralia.com.au/visitor-information/things-to-see-do/mushroom-picking/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lactarius_deliciosus
http://www.elfram.com/fungi/fungipics_k.html
What an interesting post! I like the way you utilize these mushroom in your actual life, bringing more sense of belonging to the nature by including them to one of your food recipes! Keep up the good work, thumbs up!
ReplyDeleteThis post reminds me of how my mum used to pick random mushrooms from our garden for pizza. We should all eat more types of mushies not just the regular stuff you find in the shops. Nice looking dish, perfect for these cooler winter months
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