Rowan mushrooms: useful properties and recipes

It is easy to guess from the name of the mushrooms that they grow in rows. There are a few singles, but this is an exception. Most often, they are located in groups, some not very large, and some so that an inexperienced mushroom-finder, who meets them for the first time, may be overcome by fear, because the picture seems so unreal. You can see not just rows of mushrooms, but whole settlements, in which mushrooms are not localized in one row, but in several. And these mushroom groups grow freely over a fairly large area, forming complete rings, which are popularly called "witches' circles".

What rowan sandpipers look like and where they grow

To date, there are more than 2.5 thousand species in the rowan family, of which the rowan is a typical representative. Among them there are edible, conditionally edible and poisonous.

Riadovki are lamellar mushrooms. Young caps are hemispherical in shape; as soon as they grow up, they spread out and become flat, up to 10 cm in diameter on average. The surface of the cap can be either dry fibrous or velvety scaly, including mucilaginous. Shades of mushrooms vary from light gray to dark brown, from yellow and green to almost pure red. As the mushroom grows, its color can also change.

Under the cap of the rowan mushroom are plates, which can also have different appearance and arrangement: both frequent, but thin, and rare, but fleshy. Plates are usually the same color as the cap. The stalk of the mushroom is tough, firm, positioned precisely in the middle of the cap, and may be covered with scales or smooth. Some rowan mushrooms have miniature "skirts" under the cap itself.

The variety of rowan beetles is so great that in many climatic zones their own zone-specific species grow. In Russia, they can be found everywhere, especially in the southern regions of the country. They also grow in Japan, China, North Africa, central Europe, the Scandinavian countries, North America. They prefer moderate climates and sandy or calcareous soils.

Their neighbors are usually coniferous - pine or spruce, more rarely do these mushrooms settle in areas of mixed forests, and purely deciduous areas are much less likely to be a refuge for them. They do not hide in thickets, rather habitual places for them along paths and in forest glades.

Species

To date, more than 2.5 thousand varieties of rowanberry have been described. There are among them quite edible and conditionally edible, but quite a few poisonous. Only about 80 species of hazel grouse are not rare, the rest occur sporadically and are not known to many people. Edible fungi include gray, poplar (or podtopolnik), May, giant, yellow-brown, earthy, scaly, massive, mauve-legged, and yellow mountain ash, giant, skunky, yellow-red, and matsutake.

Among mushroom hunters, rowan beetles often get their name for their color. For example, purple-footed boletus is called purple. The gray cap is pale gray (sometimes with a purple tint), she received the colloquial name sulfushka - as well as green, which is called greenishka or zelenuhi. It is the gray, green and lilac-legged are most common on the territory of the former Soviet Union.

How to distinguish the edible from the inedible assortment

It is not easy for a novice mushroom hunter to distinguish between edible and poisonous rowdock, but it is possible.

1. First of all, they have caps. Edible ones have spherical or "house" caps, and poisonous ones are either completely flat, or with a distinct knoll in the middle. In addition, poisonous caps look perfect - beautiful, without a single flaw, they are not even damaged by insects or slugs.
2. The second thing is the plates on the underside of the cap. Poisonous ones are thin, fragile, often translucent and gray. Edible ones are more fleshy, thicker, and their shade is the same as the main color of the cap.
3. Third are the feet. Good mushrooms have sturdy, fleshy, resilient legs, while poisonous ones are thinner.
4. Fourth - smell. Not everyone likes the smell of edible rowan mushrooms. But their smell is not very strong, muted. Poisonous, on the other hand, have such an unpleasant sharp smell that, after sniffing, people even crinkle and turn away.

Composition and calories

Ryadovka mushrooms have a minimum caloric value - 22 kcal per 100 g of product. At the same time, the chemical composition is complex and rich. Most of the volume - about 90%, as with most mushrooms, is water. Carbohydrates are 3.26% and proteins are 3.9%. The remaining 2% is fiber.

Very many of the minerals and vitamins necessary for humans are components of the rowanelle. Especially a lot of proteins, B vitamins, potassium, copper, manganese and zinc. In addition, there are 18 types of amino acids, glucose, flavonoids, vitamins A, C, K, PP, D2 and D7, betaine. Of minerals also present magnesium, sodium, phosphorus, calcium, iron and selenium, as well as natural antibiotics clitocin and fomecin.

Useful properties of the rowan mushroom

Rich set of necessary substances has the most beneficial effect on the human body, adjusts in the right mode the work of all systems, stimulates metabolism. Thanks to the low caloric content, rowan mushrooms are perfect for dietary meals, including vegetarians.

For women

Without such components of rowan berries, such as phosphorus and potassium, it is impossible to achieve strong, strong nails. B vitamins, which are contained in large quantities in rowan berries, are responsible for the health and beauty of teeth, skin and hair. Therefore, women, picky looking at themselves in the mirror, rowan berries will be a good help in self-care. They are helped by the lotion for the face created on the basis of the powder of mountain ash, which is used in cosmetology for acne and excessive greasiness. And included in the rowan berries nicotinic acid prevents the development of varicose veins, as it is a means of strengthening the walls of blood vessels.

For Men

One of the components of rowan mushrooms is zinc. He not only endows the mushrooms ability to adjust the endocrine and respiratory systems and improve hematopoiesis, but also involved in the synthesis of a number of enzymes. In particular, it has the power to spur the formation of testosterone - a hormone, in fact, affecting the formation of men. After all, the level of testosterone to a large extent depends not only on what will be the body of a man - strong and muscular or flabby and saggy, but the activity of sexual behavior, because without this hormone sperm formation is impossible. Therefore, to improve the potency of men should not ignore the rowan. And the selenium contained in it can be a good preventive measure against prostate cancer.

Pregnancy

Most gynecologists believe that during pregnancy it is better not to take risks and refuse to eat mushrooms in general, and rowan berries in particular, despite the nutritional value and the mass of useful components it contains.

But since in the period of expectation of the kid future moms often have just the same compelling thirst to eat something special, this "special" can easily be rowan mushrooms. In this case, it is better to give in to an acute desire than to be nervous and suffer.

But take special care when preparing the mushrooms. First of all, after thoroughly cleaning, wash the rowan mushrooms, soak them for at least an hour in cold water and rinse them again. Then boil, as the water comes to a boil, boil for 5-10 minutes and pour this broth out. Wash the mushrooms again, pour water on them, and boil them again for about half an hour. And only after such preparation, you can fry rowan mushrooms, cook them into a soup or stew with potatoes.

About salted or pickled rowan berries better forget, since spicy or salty when pregnant is not welcome in principle because of the danger of high blood pressure, edema and kidney complications. And if the future mother decided to afford a portion of stewed rowan berries, it is better to eat during the daytime, not at night.

When breastfeeding

Women who are breastfeeding must understand that rowan mushrooms, like other forest mushrooms, are very dangerous for their toxicity, because they draw salts of heavy metals from the soil. Eating a tasty mushroom soup, the mother will pass dangerous substances through the milk to the baby. This is a severe test for his still weak digestive system, especially in the first months of life. Intestinal colic is the least trouble, which threatens the infant. Possible and allergies, and severe intoxication - especially if the mushrooms were bought at the market, and the place of their growth is unknown.

Nursing mothers have to be patient and not try to put into your mouth delicious mushrooms to the time until the child is at least six months, and ideally - not earlier than 10-12 months. But still it is necessary to scrupulously observe the rules of cooking rotifers, and introduce the product to the menu gradually: at the first try just five or six pieces, and watch how the baby's body reacts to them. If there are digestive disorders - liquid stools, flatulence, you need to urgently show your baby to the doctor. If the baby's tummy reacted normally - from time to time you can afford to indulge in arrowroot, but not more than once every two weeks.

For children

Pediatricians unanimously protest against the fact that children of nursery and kindergarten age ate hazel mushrooms. Give a try rowan mushrooms can not be earlier than 7 years, and many cautious doctors say that they should not treat these forest products until 10 years - especially if the child has any health problems. Because the chitin contained in rowan berries, as in all mushrooms, even an adult body can not absorb, and for children in general is dangerous and may well have a toxic effect.

But when the child grows up and gets stronger, you can slowly, in small portions, let him try rowan mushrooms. And doctors advise to prepare only the caps for children.

Salted and pickled mushrooms for a child should be prohibited. There is no reason to overburden a growing, not fully formed body with salt and vinegar.

When losing weight

For those who suffer from excessive weight and want to lose weight, rowan mushrooms are an ideal product. Due to their low calorie content, they are included in weight loss programs. But it should be borne in mind that these mushrooms have low calories only in boiled form. In the process of frying they absorb all the fats better than a sponge, and as a result the caloric value of the finished dish increases many times.

If you cook rowan mushrooms correctly and combine them with the right products, the mushrooms can quite take pride of place on the table. They are highly nutritious, perfectly and for a long time satisfy hunger, thanks to the presence of zinc they reduce the desire to eat something sweet.

For those who live by the "eat and slim down" principle, rowan berries are best not fried, but stewed or used in soups. As the correct, harmonious partners should choose buckwheat, durum wheat pasta, vegetables (but not potatoes), rice. Weight loss is also useful to dress up a dish of rowanberry with black pepper, cloves, bay leaf, coriander.

Medical Uses

Thanks to the huge amount of minerals, vitamins and amino acids, the list of useful properties of rowan mussel is extensive, used in medicine. Thus, the components of millet are part of the preparations against diabetes, become a derivative in the manufacture of antibiotics, in particular fighting with the tubercle bacillus. Purple mountain ash is used as a raw material in the manufacture of medicines used in diseases of the liver, excretory and reproductive spheres, rheumatism. Mushroom mycelium is the initial substance for the production of an extract used as an aid in the treatment of breast cancer, cervical cancer and sarcoma.

Enzymes are involved in the normalization of the digestive system, the brain, increase resistance to chronic fatigue, infectious diseases, strengthen the walls of blood vessels. Vitamins of groups B, PP, C, A are indispensable for mental fatigue.

Treatment of kidney and liver disease facilitates extracts of milk thistle. They are involved in the regeneration of liver cells, purify the body by stimulating the excretion of toxins and neutralize free radicals.

To lower cholesterol, doctors recommend powders or hot extracts from rowanberry, prescribe this mushroom for hypertension, diabetes, and unbalanced nervous system. And folk medicine actively uses rowanberry to make lotions and ointments to treat skin diseases.

Harm and contraindications

Healthy adults have no harm from rowan mushrooms, provided the mushrooms are not old, and the mushroom does not confuse them with poisonous or collected near the road or in the city, where they absorb from the soil and air dangerous and toxic substances, which are in abundance supplied by exhaust gases from cars.

Poisonous are so insidious that some experts consider them more dangerous than fly agarics: they inevitably cause a terrible intoxication of the body. As a result, the person quickly turns pale, dramatically loses strength, his heart begins to pound, painful and dizzy, waves of nausea, vomiting, disorder of the intestines.

But even normal edible rowan berries can cause trouble if you eat too much of them. You are guaranteed a heavy stomach and even pain, sometimes quite sharp, and flatulence.

And those who suffer from diseases of the digestive system should think twice before pouncing on rowan mushrooms. If a person has gastritis, inflammation or gall bladder dysfunction, pancreatitis, etc., he can eat rowan berries in limited quantities.

When to pick and how to store mountain ash bunting

Mountain ash mushrooms are the last fungi of the season. They start to grow in the end of August (if the summer is not too hot) and continue to grow in September, October and even November, as long as the weather allows, right up to the frosts. Particularly passionate fans of mushroom hunting bring home mushrooms even after the first frosts - they are so frozen that they can bang on each other. But still the most favorable time for them is October, when the daytime air temperature drops below +15 degrees. In some regions, such as the Crimea, you can gather assorted rowan mussels year-round, but they are strongest in the fall.

Freshly picked rowan berries do not spoil in the refrigerator within 2-3 days. To preserve them longer, you can freeze mushrooms, pickle them, marinate them, or dry them. Frozen or salted retain their flavor for six months, pickled or dried - a year.

Can I Freeze?

The answer to the question "Can I freeze rowan mushrooms?" is unambiguous - yes! They will not lose their useful properties and their quality. The only condition: the mushrooms must be young, strong and healthy.

To freeze rowan mushrooms for future use, you need to carefully remove sticky leaves, needles and other debris from the caps and cut the stalks off in half. Pour cold water over the mushrooms and let stand for at least an hour to remove the rest of the dirt. Rinse, put into a large pan with boiling salted water. Boil for half an hour from the boiling point, then drain in a colander. When the rest of the water has drained away, you can put the mushrooms in containers or plastic bags and put them in the freezer.

When it is time to cook soup or cook some other dish, you just need to put the mushrooms in a pot or pan.

Can I Dry

There are two opinions about drying rowan mushrooms. Some mushroom hunters claim that you can dry it, while others foamily argue that there is nothing to eat from dried rowan berries. Both of them are right. It all depends on the type of mushroom.

For example, rowan-legged boletus is quite suitable for drying. But such species as poplar, gray (or grayishka) and green (or greenishka) for drying are not very suitable - they become too dry and tough. Perhaps wise nature reasoned as follows: since lily-of-the-valley grows mostly in treeless steppes, where there is no great variety, let the inhabitants of these areas have the opportunity not only to salt, pickle and freeze, but also to dry. And for those who live in wooded regions, there are always plenty of other mushrooms to dry for the winter.

Before drying rowan mushrooms do not wash them, just carefully clean off all the clinging dirt: sand, soil, needles, particles of moss. You can use a toothbrush for this. Then just as thoroughly wiped foam sponge, lightly moistened in vegetable oil, and finally - a damp cloth.

You can dry rowan mushrooms both in a special electric dryer and in the oven, but most important, you must not close the door all the way. So that the mushrooms do not dry out and become too brittle, near the end of drying, you must periodically touch them and remove the ones that are ready from the oven. Properly dried mushrooms with a little effort can bend, and with a significant - break.

How to clean rowan mushrooms

It is not difficult to clean rowan mushrooms. The first thing to do is to remove the clinging needles, leaves, and sand or soil. If dirt, slugs, or insects have gotten in between the cap plates, they must be removed. Then cut off half of the stalk, cut off any blackened, rotten or wood-dwelling parts of the cap.

After that you can remove the skin from the cap. This process is not quick and does not come off as easily as it does on masliks, for instance. There is an opinion that it makes the boletus less bitter. But if you soak the mushrooms in cold salted water for 1-2 days after they are cleaned of dirt, changing it from time to time, then the bitterness disappears by itself, and there is no need to laboriously remove the skin.

After soaking, rowan mushrooms are washed in running water.

How to cook rowan mushrooms

The rowan mushroom is a universal mushroom. It can be boiled, fried, stewed, salted, pickled. But no matter what dish will be cooked as a result, boiling rowan mushrooms is a must! This is the indispensable first stage of cooking. Boiled rowan mussels turn a beautiful light gray color. Then they can be added to soups, fried with potatoes, stewed with meat, rice, cereals, vegetables, and made into salads: eggs, sweet peppers, garlic, onions (both raw and fried), and mayonnaise are great with rowan mushrooms.

How to Boil

To boil rowan mushrooms, you need a large pot of cold water bring to a boil on the stove, pour the mushrooms and cook over low heat. After about 5-10 minutes, drain the water, and boil the mushrooms a second time - in new water, while adding salt. The proportion is as follows: 1 kg of fresh mushrooms take 1 liter of water and 1 tablespoon of salt. After 10-15 minutes after boiling, add spices: allspice black pepper, bay leaf, cloves.

Using a colander, drain the water from the mushrooms and use them for further cooking.

How to fry

Cut a medium sized onion into quarters of rings. Fry in a frying pan with sunflower oil, put the rowan mushrooms and continue to fry for 10-15 minutes, stirring about every couple of minutes. Under the frying pan, keep the heat medium. Salt mushrooms almost at the end of frying, it is a general rule, pepper. If there is a desire - add a couple of spoons of sour cream. Keep a little on the fire - and that's it, the mushrooms are ready! You can eat them with a side dish (vegetables or cereals) or add fried potatoes to them, hold a pan on the fire another minute or two, so that the products saturate each other with their flavors and juices, and invite the neighbors to the table!

You can fry rowan berries in a pan with vegetable oil, adding pounded walnuts. In this case, the cooking time will be a little longer - about 25 minutes. Such mushrooms can be cooled, put into half-liter jars and put in the refrigerator. Serve cold, with potatoes.

How to marinate

There are many recipes for marinating rowan mushrooms. Every housewife has her own proven method, inherited from her grandmother, mother, or aunt. There are recipes that are very simple or classic, where the main ingredients of the marinade, in addition to water, are salt, sugar, vinegar and spices, and special ones.

Simple or classic methods marinate the most common rowan hornets - Serushka, zelenushka and podtopolniki. Adding nutmeg to the marinade will perfectly shade the taste of purple rowan berries. The main thing - do not forget that pickling rowan mushrooms is allowed only after preliminary boiling!

So, what is called the simplest marinade? For 1 liter of water take 2 tablespoons salt, 1 tablespoon sugar, 3 tablespoons of vinegar 9%, 3 bay leaves, 6-7 cloves, 3-5 peppercorns. This is the norm for 1 kg of rowanberries. Water with salt and sugar are mixed in a saucepan, heated to a boil, poured the prepared mushrooms, boil for about 10 minutes, put the spices, with which to continue cooking for another 15 minutes, and then comes the turn of vinegar. With vinegar marinade should boil for about 10-15 minutes more. Next, poured mushrooms in hot sterilized jars, wrap lids, turn the jars upside down, wrap with a blanket, under which canned food and cool.

In the marinade prepared according to the classic recipe, in addition to the spices already mentioned add garlic and dill (umbrellas).

When in the cellar there are jars of rowan berries marinated with nutmeg, the owners will not be caught unawares by a sudden visit of unexpected guests: there will always be something to treat and surprise them. To prepare such an unusual marinade for 2 kg of mushrooms need 1 liter of water, 3-5 grams of ground nutmeg, 40 g of coarse rock salt, the same amount of sugar, 5 garlic cloves, 5-7 peppercorns, 3-5 bay leaves, 70 ml of acetic acid.

Put the boiled mushrooms in the water with salt and sugar. Put on the fire and boil from the moment of boiling for 15 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients, except the garlic, mix and simmer on low heat for about 15 minutes more. Garlic, cut into thin slices, put on the bottom of hot sterilized jars.

Pour the mushrooms with marinade into the jars, which then closed with lids, turn the bottoms upside down, wrap in a blanket and leave until completely cooled, which is about a day.

How to Pickle

Mountain ash can be salted either cold or hot.

Cold pickling
To make rowan mushrooms crispy like gherkins, you need to try, take time and patience to wait until they are ready. For this, 6 garlic cloves, the same number of horseradish leaves, 20-25 peas of black pepper, dill blossoms, 100 grams of coarse salt are taken per 2 kg of rowan berries.

At the bottom of sterilized three- or five-liter jars put leaves of horseradish, then boiled rowan hornets, pouring them in layers with salt and laying garlic, which had previously been cut into strips. The last layer - the inflorescences of dill. Cover with plastic or glass lids and put in the refrigerator or cellar for a month and a half. Before this time, you should not eat them - the mushrooms have not yet had time to oxidize. But then it turns out an excellent snack that retains its taste qualities for a year.

Hot pickling
Rowan mushrooms in hot brine are ready to eat much faster - in just one week. For 2 kg of mushrooms take 3 liters of well water, 150 g of coarse salt, 6 bay leaves, 10 pieces of oregano pepper and the same number of clove florets, 20 peas of black pepper.

Put the boiled mushrooms in a saucepan with water, salt and spices. It is heated until boiling, turn down the heat, put the lid on and boil for 45 minutes.

Jars are well washed and dried in the oven (or sterilized in the usual and convenient way), poured into them mushrooms with brine, close with plastic lids and after cooling take away to the cold. The product is ready in a week, but if you wait all the same 45 days, as in the previous recipe, mushrooms, as they are called, come to the right condition and impress with a rich, bright taste.

What can be cooked from rowan mushrooms: recipes

Caviar from purple rowan mushrooms

For 1 kg of mushrooms take 300 g of onions, 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil, 3 cloves of garlic, salt - to taste.

The chopped onion is fried in a pan, then the rowan vegetables are added to the pan and fried for at least half an hour under a lid. Before the end of cooking add garlic and salt, and then whip the mass with a blender. If it is assumed that the caviar will be stored for a long time, cook it again, spread hot in sterilized jars, close lids, turn upside down and wrapped with a blanket.

Caviar Podtopolnikov

Take 1 kg 200 g of boiled poplar mushrooms and boiled in new water for about 1.5-2 hours, pour the water. Mushrooms finely chopped with a sharp knife, put in a bucket and stew over low heat to evaporate water. finely chop 200 gr onions and grate 150 gr carrots in a medium grater, which are then fried in a pan in vegetable oil until almost cooked and add this mixture to the mushrooms. Pour a little more oil, put chopped parsley, 15-20 g of coarse salt, 15 g of sugar and sprinkle with pepper from the mill. Stew for another 20 minutes, pour 2/3 teaspoon of vinegar essence, stir, spread into hot sterilized jars, cork, turn over and cover. Store in a cool place.

Soup with chicken and rowan mushrooms

For half a kilo of mushrooms take one chicken breast. The meat is cut into small pieces and placed in the same saucepan with mushrooms already boiled and 3-4 potatoes, chopped into cubes. Put to boil. In a pan, make a roasting: 1 carrot, 2 medium onions and half a bell bell pepper, chopped julienne, parboiled in vegetable oil for 5-7 minutes. After 20 minutes from the start of boiling chicken with mushrooms put in a soup fry, cook for another 5-7 minutes. When serving, sprinkle soup with chopped greens. It is possible to add sour cream.

Soup with noodles

Cooked rowan mussels (0.5 kg), cut into slices, put in a pan with melted butter and fry until a beautiful crust. Dice 3-4 medium-sized potatoes, carrots and one parsley root and place them in the boiling chicken broth, cook for 10 minutes and add the rowan berries fried on the griddle. While the soup continues to boil, in the same pan, where the mushrooms were roasted, pass the onion, also chopped into cubes. As soon as it acquires a golden hue, they are added to the soup, boil for 5 more minutes, salt it, put the noodles into the pot and bring it to softness. At the last minute, put parsley and cover with a lid. After 10 minutes, the soup can be served.

Interesting facts

1. Dried rowan berries contain over 30% protein - more than meat.
2. In China, Japan and a number of other countries, matsutake mountain ash grows. In Japan, they are willing to pay huge sums of money for it - up to 100 dollars apiece. The same price for a truffle in European countries.
3. Experienced fans of silent hunting claim that each species of rowan mussel has its own distinctive, unique taste, and even urge not to be lazy and try cooking soups, caviar and other dishes of all varieties one by one in order to appreciate the virtues of each.
4. If you want, you can grow rowan berries yourself at home. The technology is similar to that used to breed mushrooms.
5. In Europe, Japan and North Africa, the giant rowan mushroom grows. Its cap is often up to 20 cm in diameter.

Photo of rowan mushrooms