White summer mushroom. White mushroom - birch and pine

Name porcini mushroom received since ancient times. Back then people mostly dried mushrooms. The porcini mushroom pulp always remained perfectly white after drying or heat treatment. This was the reason for this name. White mushroom belongs to the boletus genus, therefore the second name of the porcini mushroom is boletus.

Important! After collecting mushrooms, it is necessary to immediately begin processing them, since beneficial properties porcini mushrooms lose very quickly. For example, after 10 hours the mushroom already contains half of the minerals and trace elements.

Let's consider the varieties of porcini mushroom and their description. All of them belong to edible mushrooms first category and have the same shape.

White mushroom (spruce) (Boletus edulis)

It is the most common type and has a typical form. The cap is brown or chestnut in color, 7-30 cm in diameter. It has a mainly convex shape, sometimes cushion-shaped. Its surface is smooth and velvety and does not separate from the pulp.

The shape of the boletus leg has a thickening at the bottom, reaches an average height of 12 cm and is considered high in this type of porcini mushroom. The surface of the leg is covered with a mesh and has a whitish-brownish tint. The taste is mild, the smell is delicate and individual, usually enhanced by cooking or drying. Under the cap there is a tubular layer 1-4 cm wide, which is easily separated from the pulp and has a yellowish tint.

The flesh of the mushroom is fleshy white and does not change color when broken. This species is found in spruce and fir forests on large areas Eurasia, except Iceland, on all continents except Australia. Fruits singly or in rings. Forms mycorrhiza with deciduous and coniferous trees.

Often appears together with green russula and chanterelle. Prefers old forests with moss and lichen. Positive weather conditions for the mass appearance of porcini mushrooms are short thunderstorms with warm nights and fog. Prefers sandy, sandy loam and loamy soils and open heated areas. Harvesting takes place in June - October.

The nutritional quality of porcini mushroom is the highest. Used raw, boiled, dried. By content nutrients and microelements, the porcini mushroom is not superior to other types of mushrooms, but is a powerful digestive stimulant.

Scientists have proven that porcini mushroom protein is difficult to digest by the body due to the presence of chitin, but after drying it becomes more digestible (80%). WITH therapeutic purpose V folk medicine use the antitumor, immunostimulating properties of porcini mushrooms.

White pine mushroom (Boletus pinophilus)

This type is similar to general description porcini mushroom, but differs in some features. Hat diameter 8-25 cm red-brown color with a purple tint, but a little lighter around the edges. Under the skin of the cap the flesh is pink. The leg is short and thick, 7-16 cm in height. Its color is slightly lighter than the caps, but it is covered with a light brown thin mesh. The tubular layer is up to 2 cm wide and has a yellowish tint. There is an early form of pine porcini mushroom. It is distinguished by a lighter color of the cap and the pulp under it. Appears at the end of spring.

This species forms mycorrhizae most often with pine. Prefers sandy soils and grows singly or in small groups. Pine porcini mushroom is common in Europe, Central America, and the European part of Russia. Harvesting takes place from June to October.

White birch mushroom (Boletus betulicola)

Sometimes in regions of Russia it is called spikelet because of the appearance of rye during heading. This species has a light yellow cap, the size of which is 5-15 cm in diameter. The pulp does not change color when broken, but has no taste. The leg is barrel-shaped, whitish-brown in color with a white mesh. A tubular layer of a yellowish tint up to 2.5 cm wide. Birch boletus forms mycorrhiza with birch. Fruits singly or in groups. Likes to grow on the edges or along roads. Found in Western Europe, and in Russia – in Murmansk region, Siberia, on Far East. Harvesting takes place from June to October.

Did you know? The growth of the porcini mushroom takes nine days, but there are some varieties that grow for 15 days.

Dark bronze porcini mushroom (Boletus aereus)

Sometimes also called this type copper or hornbeam porcini mushroom. The cap is fleshy, convex in shape, reaches a diameter of 7-17 cm. The skin can be smooth or with small cracks, dark brown, almost black. The pulp is white, has a pleasant taste and smell, and darkens slightly when broken. The leg is cylindrical, massive, pink-brown in color with a nut-colored mesh. The tubular layer has a yellowish tint and is up to 2 cm wide, but when pressed it becomes olive in color. This type is common in deciduous forests With warm climate. Most common in Western and Southern Europe, Sweden, North America. The fruiting season is from July to October, but in Austria it appears in May and June. Included in the Red Books of Ukraine, Montenegro, Norway, Denmark, Moldova.

By taste qualities valued by gourmets more than the white spruce mushroom. It has similar external characteristics to the edible Polish mushroom (Xerocomus badius), in which the flesh turns blue and there is no mesh on the stem. Found in deciduous and mixed forests also the semi-bronze porcini mushroom (Boletus subaereus), which has a lighter color.

White mushroom (Boletus reticulatus, Boletus aestivalis)

The white reticulated mushroom differs from the spruce mushroom in that the cap is lighter colored and the mesh on the stem is more pronounced. It is considered the earliest of all types of porcini mushrooms. The cap reaches a diameter of 6-30 cm and has a light brown color. The pulp is fleshy white, with a yellow tint under the tubes. The leg is short, thick, club-shaped, brown in color and differs from other species by the presence of a large mesh pattern. The reticulated porcini mushroom has a pleasant smell and a sweetish, nutty taste.

The thickness of the tubular layer is up to 3.5 cm. Its color varies from white to greenish-yellow. A peculiarity of this species is the presence of cracks in the skin of old mushrooms. This species forms mycorrhiza with beech, oak, chestnut, hornbeam and grows on the edges of dry alkaline soils.

It is rarely damaged by insects. Grows in Europe North Africa, North America. Harvesting takes place from May to October. The reticulated porcini mushroom is more similar to the birch mushroom, which has a lighter cap and a shorter net.

White oak mushroom (Boletus quercicola)

Distinctive feature The white oak mushroom has a brown cap with a grayish tint. It is much darker in color than the birch species. The pulp is less dense than other types. Grows in the Caucasus, in the Primorsky Territory. The harvest takes place in June-October. It germinates abundantly, which is not typical for porcini mushrooms.

Important! Very similar to a porcini mushroom - gall mushroom. It is classified as inedible due to its bitterness. Its main differences from the porcini mushroom are the pinkish tubular layer and the darker color of the mesh on the stem.

Semi-white mushroom (Boletus impolius)

The semi-white mushroom belongs to the genus Boletus and can be called yellow boletus. The cap reaches a diameter of 5-15 cm with smooth skin of a matte light brown color. The flesh of the mushroom is dense, light-colored yellow. The taste is slightly sweet and the smell is reminiscent of carbolic acid.

The leg is thick, cylindrical, up to 15 cm high, straw color. There is no mesh pattern on the stem, but the surface is rough. The tubular layer is up to 3 cm thick and yellow. Grows in oak, beech, hornbeam forests and prefers moist clay soils. Yellow boletus belongs to heat-loving mushrooms and is common in Polesie, Carpathian region, in the central and southern European part of Russia. Harvesting takes place from May to autumn.

In some sources, due to its specific smell, it is described as a conditionally edible mushroom. The taste is not inferior to the classic porcini mushroom. After drying and scalding, the smell almost disappears completely. By external signs It is similar to the maiden boletus, but differs from it in its specific smell and does not change the color of the flesh when broken.

This year we had a very hot summer and there were no mushrooms at all. Only in September did the rains begin, and then all the mushrooms grew at once: boletus, boletus, boletus, and porcini. Today I want to tell you about the porcini mushroom with a photo, how to cook it deliciously and store it for the winter. There are many different and tasty mushrooms, but still the most delicious, nutritious and valuable is the porcini mushroom. And now in detail about

White mushroom with description, photographs and recipes

Description of white mushroom

Where the name came from is not entirely known; in the old days all edible and valuable mushrooms were called porcini. Later, white stood out as a contrast to boletus and boletus, which darken when cooked, since it does not change color when cut, cooked, or dried. It is also called boletus, mullein, capercaillie, and yellow.

The diameter of the cap is from 8 to 30 cm, but can be larger, it is convex, and in old bends it becomes flat. The color is usually light brown, it can be very light and white, the cap is smooth or slightly wrinkled, matte in dry weather, shiny and slightly slimy in rain. The cap can be dark brown, depending on the trees in which the mushrooms grow. The color can be uneven, patchy or lighter at the edges. May crack in dry weather.

The pulp is very dense, white, and does not change color when cut. If the cap is dark in color, then under it there may be a layer of reddish or brown flesh.

The smell is pleasant, mushroom, barely noticeable. A strong pleasant smell appears when frying and especially when drying.

The stalk is about 12 cm tall (can grow up to 25 cm) and up to 10 cm wide (usually 6-7 cm). It is also dense, white when cut, the outer layer is light brown. Usually in the form of a barrel or club, when it grows, a thickening of the leg remains at the bottom. Less likely to become cylindrical. Usually covered with a light network of small veins. Lighter in color than the cap.

The spongy layer of young mushrooms is dense and white; in old ones it becomes yellow or olive in color. The pulp is easily separated from the cap.

Types of porcini mushrooms

Distinguish different types porcini mushrooms, depending on their habitat. And some biologists even consider them to be different mushrooms.

Spruce porcini mushroom(main type) - the most common, usually on a long leg with a thickening at the bottom. A hat with a chestnut or reddish tint, often stained, uneven, the surface is dry and smooth. Grows in fir and spruce forests, from June to October.

White oak mushroom - he has a brown cap, not brown, but a grayish tint. Usually darker than that of birch forms, the flesh is not as dense as that of other porcini mushrooms, it is looser. Grows in oak forests in June - October. It is found in the middle and southern zone of the European part, in the Caucasus, the Urals, and the Primorsky Territory. Grows frequently.

White birch mushroom- has a light, almost white color and grows under birch trees.

White pine mushroom or boletus- distinguished by a large cap with a dark color, sometimes purple. The pulp under the skin is brown in color. Grows in pine forests.

There are many more forms that differ in the color of the cap, stem, and place of growth. I think everyone knows exactly what type of porcini mushroom grows in their forest; usually, the traditions of collecting and storing mushrooms in each area are passed down through inheritance. At the same time, cases of poisoning are reduced to a minimum.

I would like to mention one more mushroom, it is often called the Polish mushroom. It is edible, but when cut or pressed on the flesh it turns blue.

Polish mushroom

Gall mushroom— the tubular layer turns pink over time, the flesh is bitter, there is a dark mesh on the stem, and it turns red when cut. If you put it with good mushrooms, then everyone will become bitter.

Gall mushroom - bitterling

Satanic mushroom- the leg is a very rich red-brown color, the flesh on the cap is red. Very poisonous mushroom. When cut, it also turns red, and the color quickly becomes deep red. And these mushrooms, especially old ones, bad smell. Unlike real boletus mushrooms, which have a pleasant taste and smell.

Satanic mushroom is poisonous!

Where do porcini mushrooms grow?

They are found mainly in coniferous-deciduous forests with spruce, pine, birch, and oak. They love mossy places or lichens, prefer trees over 50 years old. But in a pine forest it begins to grow from 20-25 years. Often found near green russula, chanterelles, greenfinches.

Loves moderately warm weather and rains. In June-August at a temperature of 15-18°C, and in September at 8-10°C. Loves rain with thunderstorms and warm, foggy nights. At this time, the most massive appearance of mushrooms occurs.

Lighting does not affect the growth of the fungus, although it is considered light-loving. It is found both in the shade and under tree branches. But when unfavorable conditions Grows best in sunny, warm places.

It likes places that are not too waterlogged; it does not grow in swamps and peat bogs.

The white mushroom grows almost everywhere except Australia. Grows wherever there are trees, not found in the steppes, found in the Arctic zone

It usually grows from mid-June to September, the largest collection is in August; in the southern regions it can grow in October.

Useful properties

Porcini mushroom is distinguished not only by its excellent taste, but also by its ability to stimulate digestion. It is not very different in composition from other mushrooms, but it stimulates the stomach very well.

Antitumor substances have also been found in them. Polysaccharides and sulfur compounds have this effect. Boletuses can be a preventive measure against cancer. They also suppress infections and have wound-healing and tonic properties.

Freshly prepared mushrooms are not very well absorbed by the body; their proteins cannot be digested due to their chitinous walls. But after drying, up to 80% of the protein becomes available to the body.

Use in folk medicine

Porcini mushrooms are useful for anemia and atherosclerosis, as they contain lecithin and the amino acid ergothioneine, which help cleanse blood vessels of cholesterol plaques. Promote cell renewal and are beneficial for the kidneys, heart, vision, and bone marrow.

Boletus mushrooms are also very rich in antioxidants; they strengthen the immune system.

Mushrooms are rich in vitamin D and potassium. Useful for heart disease, for strengthening bones and general condition body to increase hemoglobin.

Porcini mushrooms, like other mushrooms, are very absorbent. harmful substances and heavy metals. You cannot pick mushrooms near roads, highways, industrial enterprises, and railways. Otherwise, you risk collecting the entire periodic table!

How to cook porcini mushroom

These mushrooms have excellent taste and aroma.

Fried porcini mushrooms

This is our favorite dish in the fall during mushroom season.

First, I wash the porcini mushrooms and clean the stems. I don’t boil the mushrooms, but cut them straight into a frying pan, so they are tastier and more aromatic. You just have to be sure that all your mushrooms are edible!

I cut into pieces in a frying pan with oil. There they are stewed under a lid over medium heat for about 20 minutes. There is a lot of water in the mushrooms and it turns out that they are stewed in own juice, I don’t add any water on purpose.

Then I open the lid and fry the mushrooms for about 10 minutes so that the excess water boils away. And immediately add one small onion (finely chopped), salt to taste.

Then I add potatoes in strips. Usually 5-6 medium potatoes.

To make sure the potatoes are fried faster and the mushrooms don’t burn, I move the finished mushrooms into half the frying pan, add a little oil and lay out half the potatoes. Then I move the mushrooms onto the layer of potatoes, freeing the second half of the pan, adding a little oil again and laying out the second half of the potatoes.

I distribute the mushrooms evenly on top and close the lid. Fry over medium heat, closer to high. This way the potatoes cook quickly, they turn out with a crust and the mushrooms don’t burn.

After 8-10 minutes, stir the potatoes and leave on the fire for another 5 minutes. Then turn it off and let it stand for 10 minutes. Now you can enjoy delicious, aromatic potatoes with porcini mushrooms!

Porcini mushroom soup - simple and tasty

Porcini mushroom soup is rich, and only elm mushrooms can compete in aroma, but they grow in the spring and early summer.

• Porcini mushrooms - 300-500 gr.
• water 1.5 liters,
• big onion,
• 1 medium carrot
• 3-4 potatoes,
• 2 teaspoons semolina,
• Pepper, salt,
• Green,
• Oil for frying
• Sour cream to taste

You need to rinse and peel the mushrooms well so that nothing unnecessary gets into the soup. Cut the mushrooms into small pieces so that they fit comfortably in a spoon. Now fill them with water and put them in a saucepan on the fire.

While they are boiling, finely chop the onion and grate the carrots on a fine grater.

When the mushrooms begin to boil, a lot of foam will appear - we constantly remove it with a spoon until the foam forms. Cook the mushrooms for 10 minutes.

Then we add the potatoes, at this time there is usually no more foam.

Now let's fry for the beautiful color of our soup. First, simmer the onion until transparent and then the carrots until golden brown. Put it in the soup.

Now we need to cook our porcini mushroom soup for about 40 minutes so that it is well cooked. 5 minutes before the end, add 2 teaspoons of semolina. It will add a little thickness to the soup, but it is almost invisible there. Add salt and pepper to taste.

When serving, you can sprinkle fresh dill on a plate and add a spoonful of sour cream.

The soup turns out very tasty - cook for your health!

Preparing porcini mushrooms for the winter

Let's marinate

Cooking porcini mushrooms according to this recipe is very simple and quick.

I do everything almost “by eye”, so I immediately apologize for the approximateness in the recipe.

Wash the porcini mushrooms, clean them, cut them into approximately equal pieces and cook them in water over high heat. The water is salted. After boiling, remove the foam and then cook for about an hour until the mushrooms are completely cooked. They should sink to the bottom of the water. At first they float completely on the surface.

At this time, wash and sterilize the jars in the oven and boil the clean lids.

Preparing the brine: I just make it very, very salt water so that it tastes very salty. Add peppercorns, allspice, cloves, bay leaf. Let everything simmer for a bit.

I drain the finished mushrooms through a colander and place them in jars. The jars need to be made incomplete - about half a liter of mushrooms in a seven hundred gram jar.

Immediately pour the brine, while you need to move the mushrooms with a spoon so that the air comes out better and the brine gets into the jar more evenly. Then add a teaspoon of vinegar essence to a seven hundred gram jar and roll it up with a tin lid.

I immediately turn it over onto the lid and wrap it up. Stand until completely cooled under cover - usually 2 days.

Any mushrooms can be marinated in this way, but it is better to do them all separately. Each type in its own jar. They stand very well underground all winter.

Drying

For drying, take any porcini mushrooms. They cannot be washed.

Clean well with a knife or cloth and dry cut into large pieces. Small mushrooms are not cut. It is good to dry it in the oven, but you can also dry it in the oven.

You need to dry it over low heat with the door ajar to allow moisture to escape better. Be sure to ensure that the mushrooms do not burn. First, they are dried at a temperature of 40-50°C until dry.

When the mushrooms stop being sticky, you can increase the temperature to 65-70°C, but no more!

It is impossible to say exactly how long the drying process will take. In a regular oven with heating, cooling, airing, it can take two days. But you will get delicious, aromatic, healthy mushrooms. They are much better and more nutritious than fresh ones.

Freezing

Everything is very simple here. If you have space in your freezer, be sure to freeze the mushrooms for the winter. You can boil them until tender in salted water, as when pickling. Then cool and put in the freezer, dividing into portions. So that in winter the bag goes straight into a frying pan or into soup.

Can you freeze it? fried mushrooms- this way they turn out even tastier and more aromatic than just boiled.

Can be frozen and fresh mushrooms, but they take up a lot of space.

Now I’m sure you won’t confuse the porcini mushroom with others, because its photo and description are familiar to you, and now you also know how to cook it.

We have been collecting mushrooms for a long time. Back in the days Ancient Rus' in the summer-autumn season, entire families went into the forest to prepare these gifts for the whole winter. Milk mushrooms, saffron milk caps, chanterelles and, of course, porcini mushrooms, which are very often mentioned in Russian proverbs, sayings, and fairy tales.

White, which depends on where it grows, is eaten in any form: fried, stewed, boiled. It can be dried, pickled, preserved. At the same time, most of the beneficial properties are preserved. For example, mushroom broth is much healthier than meat broth, and dried porcini mushrooms are twice as caloric chicken eggs. The substances found in porcini mushrooms have tonic and antitumor properties. Its extract was once used to treat frostbite.

Porcini mushrooms grow on almost every continent, with the exception of Australia and Antarctica. They grow throughout the summer until late autumn, but not constantly, but in waves that depend on local and weather conditions. The first wave usually occurs at the end of June and beginning of July. The most productive period falls in the second half of August and the beginning of September. The third wave depends on the unpredictable autumn weather and may not even come. the varieties of which are diverse, does not grow very quickly. The time that passes from the development of the embryo to the mature mushroom is on average about a week. Moreover, they usually grow up in families. Therefore, having found this handsome man in the forest, you should carefully look around: you will probably find more than one somewhere nearby.

They prefer to settle in birch or white mushrooms. The color of the cap of the porcini mushroom can be very different: brownish, light brown, sand. If there is too much moisture, it may be a little slimy. The leg is thick, ovoid, and somewhat elongates with age, remaining thick at the bottom. The flesh may turn slightly blue when cut. After drying, the bluish tint disappears and the mushroom becomes white again.

The famous Soviet scientist B.P. Vasilkov, who studied mushrooms and is the author of many scientific works, described 18 species of whites depending on the season, climate and others external conditions. It is generally accepted that the porcini mushroom, varieties of which can have various shapes, belongs to one species - Boletus edulis. However, some scientists who have conducted similar studies believe that 4 of them are independent species.

Varieties of porcini mushrooms

The following subspecies can most often be found in our forests:

Carefully! I!

The porcini mushroom, the varieties of which are well known to experienced mushroom pickers, still has a dangerous double. This is a gall mushroom (bitter or bitter).

By appearance- This regular mushrooms white. Photos of poisonous gall and edible white are practically the same. But there is still a difference:

• the tubular layer has a slightly pinkish tint;
• gall fungus usually grows at the base of trees or on stumps;
• the bitterling leg is covered with a darker reticulate pattern;
• it has pores;
• it has a sharp, bitter taste that can be easily felt by lightly touching it with your tongue.

Despite the fact that this mushroom is poisonous, it contains medicinal substances. In folk medicine, bittersweet has been used since ancient times as a choleretic agent, which is why it got its name.

Taxonomy:

• Division: Basidiomycota (Basidiomycetes)
• Subdivision: Agaricomycotina (Agaricomycetes)
• Class: Agaricomycetes (Agaricomycetes)
• Subclass: Agaricomycetidae (Agaricomycetes)
• Order: Boletales
• Family: Boletaceae
• Genus: Boletus (Boletus)
• View: Boletus edulis (Porcini mushroom)

Borovik

Description

(lat. Boletus edulis) - a mushroom from the genus Borovik.

Hat:
The color of the porcini mushroom cap, depending on the growing conditions, varies from whitish to dark brown, sometimes (especially in pine and spruce varieties) with a reddish tint. The shape of the cap is initially hemispherical, later cushion-shaped, convex, very fleshy, up to 25 cm in diameter. The surface of the cap is smooth, slightly velvety. The pulp is white, dense, thick, does not change color when broken, practically odorless, with a pleasant nutty taste.

Leg:
The porcini mushroom has a very massive stalk, up to 20 cm high, up to 5 cm thick, solid, cylindrical, widened at the base, white or light brown, with a light mesh pattern at the top. As a rule, a significant part of the leg is underground, in the litter.

Spore-bearing layer:
Initially white, then successively turns yellow and green. The pores are small and round in shape.

Spore powder:
Olive brown.

Spreading

Various varieties of porcini mushroom grow in deciduous, coniferous and mixed forests from early summer to October (with breaks), forming mycorrhiza with various types trees. It bears fruit in so-called “waves” (in early June, mid-July, August, etc.). The first wave, as a rule, is not very abundant, while one of the subsequent waves is often incomparably more productive than the rest.

It is popularly believed that the porcini mushroom (or at least its massive release) accompanies. That is, if the fly agaric goes, so does the white one. Whether it is true or not, God knows.

Similar species:

When young it looks like a white mushroom (later it becomes more like). The gall mushroom differs from the white one primarily in its bitterness, which makes this mushroom completely inedible, as well as in the pinkish color of the tubular layer, the pinkish flesh (unfortunately, sometimes too weakly) at the break, and the dark mesh pattern on the stem. It can also be noted that the pulp of the gall mushroom is always unusually clean and untouched by worms, while in the porcini mushroom, you know...

And - common oak mushrooms are also confused with porcini mushrooms. It should, however, be remembered that the flesh of the porcini mushroom never changes color, remaining white even in soup, which cannot be said about actively turning blue oak mushrooms.

Edibility

It is rightfully considered the best of mushrooms. Can be used in any form.

Growing porcini mushroom

Industrial cultivation of porcini mushroom is unprofitable, so it is bred only by amateur mushroom growers.

To grow, you must first create conditions for the formation of mycorrhiza. They use personal plots on which deciduous and coniferous trees, characteristic of the mushroom’s habitat or highlight natural areas of the forest. It is best to use young groves and plantings (at the age of 5-10 years) of birch, oak, pine or spruce.

IN late XIX- early 20th century In Russia, this method was widespread: overripe mushrooms were kept in water for about a day and mixed, then filtered and thus a suspension of spores was obtained. It was used to water areas under trees. Currently, artificially grown mycelium can be used for sowing, but usually natural material is taken. You can take a tubular layer of mature mushrooms (6-8 days old), which is slightly dried and sown in small pieces under the soil litter. After sowing the spores, the harvest can be obtained in the second or third year. Sometimes soil with mycelium taken from the forest is used as seedlings: they cut out around the found porcini mushroom sharp knife square plot 20-30 cm in size and 10-15 cm deep. For sowing with mycelium or soil with mycelium, use pre-prepared compost from fallen oak leaves, clean horse manure and a small addition of rotten oak wood, watered with a 1% solution of ammonium nitrate during composting. Then, in a shaded area, remove the layer of soil and place humus in 2-3 layers, sprinkling the layers with earth. The mycelium is planted on the resulting bed to a depth of 5-7 centimeters, the bed is moistened and covered with a layer of leaves.

The yield of porcini mushroom reaches 64-260 kg/ha per season.

Notes

You can write a novel about the porcini mushroom. Write, but not write: the porcini mushroom still won’t fit into the framework of the novel. Beautiful mushrooms a lot, but where else can you find a mushroom that makes you want to sit down and die peacefully, because nothing will be better? With white it's easy. You just need to find...

- antipode. The toadstool exudes aesthetics, the toadstool is impeccable in every detail... but for some reason it doesn’t please. (Although, of course, it’s clear why.) Porcini mushroom is a completely different matter. Not always correct, not very elegant, simple.

Worms love porcini mushrooms. Sometimes it’s a fungus the size of a fist, but it’s already rot. It also happens differently: the mushroom is healthy, but almost clean, almost, but not quite: sometimes it seems that the worms have already eaten, hatched into flies and flew off to other mushrooms, but this one perked up, tightened the worm passages and began new life. Is this real? Who knows? However, what difference does it make: if there are no living worms, then it doesn’t matter who ate it before me.

Type of porcini mushroom (also known as boletus mushroom, cow mushroom) - edible, tubular mushroom, which belongs to the Borovik genus. Its appearance is significantly influenced by conditions environment, but despite this, the porcini mushroom always looks like a handsome giant compared to its other relatives.

The most common inhabitant of spruce and fir forests has a brown, smooth, dry cap with a reddish or chestnut tint, and a long stem, widened towards the bottom.

An abundance of brown caps with a grayish tint are found in oak forests, hence the clarification in the name oak porcini mushroom.

The proximity of birches makes the boletus cap light, almost white, and thanks to its proximity to pine trees, its cap is large, dark with a purple tint and brownish-red flesh under the skin.

Boletus can also have a cap that is bright yellow, purple, orange-red, light brown, black-brown, light bronze or ocher. But such specimens are not very common.

Photo of white mushroom

Structure

Mature individuals are characterized by a convex cap with a smooth or wrinkled surface. The hat is sticky during wet weather and looks disgusting; It is matte in dry, sunny weather. The skin does not separate from the pulp.

Young individuals always have juicy, dense flesh. white, old mushrooms have a yellowish tint, and just under the skin there may be a small layer of red-brown tint. Many people are interested in whether the porcini mushroom turns blue when cut. It is believed that this species does not differ in this property.

Porcini mushroom in its raw state has a faint odor and only during the cooking process does a pleasant mushroom aroma appear.

The leg of the boletus is massive, club-shaped and with a whitish surface, which can also acquire light shade hats. At first, the white tubular layer gradually turns yellow and in mature individuals turns into an olive green color. Boletus spore powder is olive-brown in color.

Habitats

Boletus likes mature and old forests with an abundance of moss and lichens, but it also feels great on sandy, sandy loam, and loamy soils. The white mushroom is common on all continents except Australia.

Warm, foggy nights and short heavy rains, especially in the second half of August, are ideal weather conditions, when whites delight with a huge number. Boletus is found from June to September.

Some general information

Why are these mushrooms called porcini? There is no reliable answer to this question. The most common theory is that the porcini mushroom retains its color white during processing; most other mushrooms tend to darken or turn brown.

IN summer time life cycle The ripening of white mushroom lasts 6–9 days, and already in September it increases from 9 to 15 days, but during this time it reaches impressive sizes compared to other mushrooms, which ripen in approximately 3–5 days.

Despite their large forms and widespread, the boletus is very skillfully hidden from view, so searching for it requires patience and perseverance. The best specimens to collect should have a cap diameter of approximately 4 cm.

Description of storage methods fresh mushrooms It comes down to the fact that boletus mushrooms must be processed immediately, otherwise after 10 hours they will lose their beneficial properties.

Due to their unprofitability, porcini mushrooms are not cultivated industrially, but amateur mushroom growers conduct similar experiments.

The closest relative is boletus, a tasty, edible tubular mushroom, quite common, always growing in the company of birch trees. It has a long, thin stem and a convex cap with a diameter of up to 15 cm.

The poisonous gall mushroom is very similar to boletus, which has the following main differences: the tubular layer is dirty pink, the flesh is bitter, and there is a dark mesh pattern on the stem. One more dangerous double Boletus is satanic mushroom, it is found in damp forests, has a reddish tubular layer and quickly turns blue when cut.