Lactarius zonarius 🍄
I had a day off today so I went for a walk in the pine and oak grove near my house.
The original idea was to collect pine mushrooms to prepare mushroom risotto.
But before I could remember what the pine mushroom looked like, I came upon a new type of mushroom that at first seemed familiar to me from a picture I once saw.
And so I thought it was Lactarius delicious which is a good and familiar edible mushroom.
Later, when I got home and checked, I discovered that it was actually Lactarius zonarius which is a very similar mushroom but not good for eating, non-toxic, heaven forbid, just has a very hot&bitter taste.
The mushroom is quite common, sometimes growing in large groups and scattered on the ground in oak groves and mixed groves in December - February.
In a fresh condition, it is not good for eating because of the sharpness of the flavor, but there are reports that after two days of soaking it in water, it is suitable for pickling.
Enjoy!
LG G6+ Cam
Info: mushrooms.org.il
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Are you going to cock them?
I didn't collect them cos I wasn't sure if they're edible... Better be safe than sorry
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It has red milk so it can not be Lactarius zonarius. Lactarius deliciosus is most likely correct.
As I mentioned in the post, both are very similar and it's easy to get mixed up so I didn't take my chances 😅
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All Lactarius spp. with red milk are edible. ;-)
They are actually one of the easier mushrooms to start with at least if you don't care too much about the correct ID on a species level. Kind of like with Russula spp. which are all edible if they taste mild.
But yes, it's better to be safe than sorry. Some are not really tasty in my opinion anyway.
Yes, I read that both the one I thought it was and also the one you claim it to be are bitter. The one I thought it was also has a strong hot flavor which is said to be fading away after a few days soaked in water. Anyway bitter isn't "my cup o' tea" so even if it was the edible one I would have preferred to leave it be 😊
But thank you for the insight, I'll be happy to see more of your comments dear 😘
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Interesting thing about Lactarius deliciosus is that its actually a diverse complex, there are many different species that are classified under this binomial. Some species in this complex are choice edibles and highly sought after while others are edible but not that good. For example the variety commonly found in California is alright at best, but the species from Colorado and the East Coast of the USA are much more flavorful and delicious. The varieties I've tried from Mexico are also exceptionally delicious but there is also many species within that binomial complex here in Mexico. In Europe L. deliciosus is highly sought after but I've talked to several European immigrants in California that say they don't even bother with it there. I don't believe this is actually in the L. deliciosus complex because it has a bright color, its of considerable size, lacks green staining (which is not always present), and has untypical morpholgy in general. FYI its also not typically that bitter, its tolerable. Below is an a picture I took of L. deliciosus being sold in a market in Mexico.
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I find it to have a "foresty" like taste, kind of like what you smell deep inside the forest just in the tasting form 😉 but overall it got this ordinary mushroom taste
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