Hericium's antennae

Collection and preparation rules

Hericiums belong to the 4th category of nutritional and nutritional value, so they are not very popular. But in France and several other European countries, they are considered a delicacy.

Season

It is possible to collect black-haired women from the beginning of July until the autumn frosts on the soil, but the peak of the season usually falls on the beginning of September. The collection should be carried out exclusively in ecologically clean areas, away from the roadway. The leg must be cut off, and not pulled out along with the mycelium.

Useful properties and restrictions to use

Hericiums have been used since ancient times to treat various diseases. They are especially widely used in Chinese medicine. They are very effective in cosmetology, treatment of skin diseases, treatment and prevention of diseases of the cardiovascular system, gastrointestinal tract, as well as bacterial and oncological diseases. Valuable due to the presence in the composition of many vitamins, minerals, micro- and macroelements.

Interesting!

The bactericidal effect of the substances of the variegated fungus extends even to Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella.

However, like other mushrooms, barnacles are considered food that is difficult for the digestive tract, especially for the pancreas. Therefore, people suffering from pancreatitis, cholecystitis and gastritis, children under 5 years old, women during pregnancy and lactation should refrain from using them. It is also not advisable to eat them for people in the postoperative period.

Recipes and cooking features

Hericiums can be fried, salted, pickled, frozen, dried and ground. To maximize the full taste and aroma, it is advisable to boil them and drain the broth before cooking. After this procedure, they can be used as an addition to meals or as a main product. The thorns on the bottom of the cap can make the dish mushy, so they must be removed completely.

A very unusual and exotic dish on your table may turn out to be an Italian yellow hedgehog salad. To prepare it you will need:

• mushrooms boiled in salted water for 10-15 minutes - 200 g;
• boiled chicken breast, finely chopped - 1 pc .;
• tomatoes, cut into halves - 10 pcs.

Salad with hedgehogs

for refueling:

• anchovy paste - 1 tbsp spoon;
• mayonnaise - 1.5 tbsp. spoons;
• lemon juice - 2 tbsp. spoons;
• grated parmesan - 2 tbsp spoons;
• 2 cloves of finely chopped garlic or garlic squeezed out;
• salt and pepper to taste.

First you need to put mushrooms, breast and tomatoes in a glass jar, and put the dressing on top, press the lid tightly and refrigerate for 4-5 hours, after which you can serve it to the table.

When and where to collect

The urchin is found in all forests of a temperate climate, and closer to cold regions it grows less and less. Some species prefer southern regions, for example, the crested urchin, found in subtropical forests with a humid climate (foothills of the Caucasus, Primorsky, Amur Territory, Khabarovsk and the environs).

Most of all blackberries love sandy soils in dry coniferous forest, but some species prefer limestone. Mushrooms are found singly, but it happens that they form "witch's rings". Some species prefer to grow on dead trees. They sometimes grow in:

• deadwood;
• stumps;
• woody substrate;
• loose hollows;
• broken or broken branches of living trees.

Depending on the variety, blackberries are harvested from June to November.

How to store blackjack

Fresh mushrooms, without a refrigerator, can be stored for 2-3 hours. In the refrigerator - up to 3 days. Before you send them for storage, there are a few things you need to do:

1. Rinse the mushrooms thoroughly and soak in salt water for several hours to release the pests.
2. Dry, if damaged, remove.
3. Place in a deep container and cover with a napkin.

These mushrooms absorb odors well, so they should be kept away from other foods. Do not store blackberries in plastic bags.

To preserve these mushrooms for a long time, the hostess often salt them. You can also increase the shelf life by freezing the blackberries.

Another storage option is drying for the winter. Correctly dried mushrooms can be stored for 2-3 years, and a large number of dishes can be prepared from them.

Description of species and their photos

All hedgehogs have similar species features, and any of them must be heat treated during cooking.

Edible

1. Yellow (lat.Hydnum repandum) is an edible representative of the genus Hydnum of the Ezovik family. It has a yellowish cap with a smooth surface and edges curved downward, which, due to its irregular shape, often grows together with the caps of neighbors. The pulp is whitish, dense and has a pleasant smell. Grows from July to October in deciduous, coniferous and mixed forests.

   Hydnum repandum

2. White (Hydnum albidum) is practically indistinguishable from yellow. Its cap is slightly lighter and larger in diameter (up to 17 cm), sometimes with blurred grayish or yellowish spots. It prefers to live in damp places, moss, deciduous and coniferous trees. But the main condition for its growth is calcareous soil.

   Hydnum albidum

3. Antennaeus (Hericium cirrhatum) grows in small tiers on tree trunks and stumps and is listed in the Red Book. Mostly found in mixed forests. Fruiting from late summer to mid-autumn. The hemispherical fruit body consists of several layers, white-cream in color. It can reach a height of 15 cm. It is a bit like climacodon.

   Hericium cirrhatum

4. The comb (Hericium erinaceus) is protected in many countries. Its fruiting body is irregular in shape and has no legs. Consists of long hanging threads, forming a ball, "beard". For this reason, the people come across the name "grandfather's beard". The pulp is white, soft and fleshy. Distributed in the Khabarovsk Territory, the Amur Region, in the north of China, in the Primorsky Territory, Crimea and the foothills of the Caucasus. Prefers to grow on live or dead oak trunks.

   Hericium erinaceus

5. Alpine (Hericium flagellum) in appearance is easily confused with coral. The fruiting body is formed by many branches growing from one common short stalk and reaches 30 cm in height. Young specimens are light, whitish in color. Grows in mountainous areas and foothills, especially firs. The peak of the season for its collection falls at the end of summer - early fall.

   Hericium flagellum

6. Coral (Hericium coralloides) - the brightest and most beautiful among its relatives, is a Red Book specimen. Its fruiting body has a bushy, branched structure with dense and brittle thorns on the surface. The color is white or cream. The firm and fibrous pulp has a pleasant mushroom aroma. It grows on stumps or in the deciduous canopy of species such as birch, aspen and oak.

   Hericium coralloides

Conditionally edible

A few more species of hedgehogs are suitable for eating, but due to bitterness they require prolonged heat treatment, therefore, they are classified as conditionally edible:

1. Red-headed (Hydnum repandum) grows mainly in the wild. Its cap is wavy in shape, has a characteristic reddish-red color and is rather brittle at the edges. The cylindrical leg is weakly attached to the soil, so the mushroom can be easily separated from the ground. Prefers to live in mixed forests, in moss or low grass.

   Hydnum repandum

2. Variegated sarcodon (Sarcodon Imbricatus) is a rather rare species, found mainly in coniferous forests and in dry sandy soils. Its cap is covered with brown tiled scales that lag behind the surface, and the flesh is dense, off-white in color and has a pleasant odor. The smooth stem of a cylindrical shape, 2.5 cm thick and about 8 cm long. The smell of the motley hedgehog is rather sharp and spicy, so I often use it as a seasoning for dishes.

   Sarcodon Imbricatus

3. The gelatinous pseudo-beetle (Pseudohydnum gelatinosum) is a rather rare specimen, but it can be found in the remains of coniferous and deciduous trees in America, Australia and Northern Europe. The pulp of the mushroom is jelly-like and soft. Although it is considered edible, it is not of any value from a culinary point of view due to its neutral taste.

   Pseudohydnum gelatinosum

Inedible

All other representatives of the group of barnacle mushrooms are inedible, as they are too bitter and may have an unpleasant, pungent odor. These include:

• rough (unkempt);
• felt;
• black;

  Black hedgehog

• white-legged;
• striped;
• Finnish;

  Finnish mushroom

• the climacodon is beautiful;
• climacodon northern.

  North climacodon

Hericium yellow

Synonyms: Hericum notched, Hydnum notched, Dentinum notched.

Specifications:

• Group: aphyllophoric
• Color: yellow
• Info: with spines

This is interesting: How to store cut pumpkin at home - 3 easy ways

Growing at home and in the country

Interestingly, this type of mushroom can be grown both at home and at their summer cottage. It is sown in open ground, starting in mid-spring, ending until half of autumn. For sowing, ready-made mycelium is used (sold with sticks that are infected with fungal spores).

In some species, wood may be used instead of soil. It uses coniferous, deciduous trees, fresh branches. The wood is poured with water for several days, after which it is removed and all the water is allowed to drain. Next, insert the mushroom sticks into the holes. Then the tree is wrapped in a film, cuts are made for oxygen access. It is stored in a dark, warm room. Watering is done twice a week. When the mycelium appears, the wood must be placed in water for 24 hours, then set vertically in a bright place.

The first harvest should be expected about six months after sowing.

Description

Hat

Quite thick, fleshy, dry. The average diameter is 5-10 centimeters, but there are also record specimens up to 20 centimeters. At first, in a young mushroom, the shape of the cap is flat-convex, later it becomes flat, then flat-concave, and finally, towards old age - funnel-shaped.

The edge of the cap is slightly wavy, in young specimens it is slightly curved upward, in mature and old specimens it is lowered. Along the entire surface of the cap there are large shingle-type scales, reminiscent of the arrangement of scales on a pine cone. The color of the cap is brownish at first, then black and brown.

Leg

Cylindrical, dense, at first solid, with aging it becomes hollow inside. The color of the leg at the base is brown-brown, lightening as it approaches the cap to the same color as it. The height of the leg reaches 5-6 centimeters, in thickness - from 1 to 3 centimeters. The surface is smooth, with a slight thickening at the base.

Spore-bearing layer

One of the few mushrooms that have an extremely unusual shape of the spore-bearing layer - not tubular or lamellar, but consisting of small “spines” about a centimeter long, easily breaking when pressed. The color of the spines is from whitish-gray in youth to dark gray in decrepit mushrooms.

Growing

A large number of wild-growing mushrooms, including the barnacle, are difficult to cultivate artificially, so very rarely people ask themselves how to grow a barnacle mushroom with their own hands.

The easiest way to grow a mushroom is to buy ready-made mycelium, which is sold in stores, on the Internet and on official websites. If it is planned to grow mushrooms outside, then planting should take place from April to October. This type of mushroom also feels great indoors, so it would be advisable to breed herders in the basement or shed, where they can grow all year round.

How to grow a hedgehog:

1. To begin with, you should cut down a deciduous log, not necessarily rotten.
2. Branches can be cut off, but the bark must not be touched, the wood must be wet.
3. The wood is left in a warm ventilated room for 7 days.
4. Next, you need to drill a hole with a diameter of 1 centimeter and a depth of 40 millimeters. Several such holes need to be made in a checkerboard pattern.
5. It is in these holes that the mycelium is placed.
6. Wrap the logs in polyethylene with holes so that the wood breathes.
7. The logs are transported to a warm room, where the sun's rays do not penetrate; it must be watered three times a day so that moisture does not disappear.
8. As soon as the first filaments of the mushroom appear, the wood is placed in cold water for a day.
9. Then the chocks are moved to a bright room and placed vertically.

At the end of autumn, the chocks are covered with foliage or are taken to the basement. The first harvest will be in 6 months, then for two weeks the mycelium needs to be watered only occasionally. Then collect mushrooms as they grow, and it is better to collect young mushrooms.

There are only four types of hedgehog mushroom, each of them is unique in its own way. Some varieties are of great benefit to the body, but mushrooms should not be abused, since this is a heavy product. Before going into the forest for mushrooms, you should study all the mushrooms in detail so as not to pick a poisonous mushroom due to inexperience and not get poisoned by it.

Inedible hedgehogs

It is customary to include only four inedible species among the hedgehogs. Moreover, there is no data regarding whether they are poisonous, or simply not suitable for food for other reasons. Here's what we know about them now:

1. Hericium is black. A hat with a diameter of up to 8 cm, as a rule, is of irregular shape, smoothly turns into a short stem. In addition to color, a characteristic feature is the ability to grow through forest debris - cones, fallen branches and other solid objects. Young mushrooms can be bright blue in color. Since the flesh of the mushroom is woody, it is not eaten. But it is not known whether it is edible in principle, for example, when ground into flour. Grows in coniferous forests, loves mosses.
2. Felt Hericium. The cap rarely exceeds 6 cm in diameter. Usually has a notch in the center, with age, the edges become convoluted. A distinctive feature is the ring type of color - along the edge there is a wide white or beige stripe, in the center of the ring of different shades of brown. The pulp is yellow-brown in color, bitter in taste. The leg is 1-3 cm long. Also painted with rings in different shades of brown. Individual mushrooms often grow together into a single mass. Grows in old coniferous forests, very sensitive to soil pollution. It is considered inedible due to its bitter taste. The toxicity is not known.
3. Hericium is rough. The cap grows up to 15 cm, in youth it is flat or slightly convex, then depressed in the middle. Usually irregular. Colored in different shades of light brown, sometimes with a barely noticeable pink tint. The entire cap is covered with small scales of a darker shade due to which its surface becomes rough. The edges are wavy. The pulp is white-pinkish, gray-green in the stem. The leg is no more than 10 cm, tapers downwards and is also covered with small scales. It grows in both coniferous and deciduous forests, but prefers acidic sandy soils. Inedible due to bitter taste. The degree of toxicity is also not clear.
4. Hericium is false. The most exotic looking among inedible hedgehogs. The body shape can resemble a spoon, a fan, or a tongue. The cap usually does not exceed 8 cm in diameter. Moreover, it is always thick and one edge is always longer and, as a rule, higher than the opposite. Color from white to light brown. Usually, the darker the mushroom, the older it is. Leg up to 5 cm long. Sometimes very weakly expressed and indistinguishable from the cap. The consistency of the pulp resembles well-set jelly, often translucent. Grows on decaying coniferous wood. As already mentioned, due to the complete lack of taste, it does not go to food, but there is no data on toxicity.

Hericium coralloides

Synonyms: Coral mushroom, Blackberry trellis, Hericium branched, Hericium coral, Hericium coral, Gericium trellis.

Specifications:

• Shape: coral
• Color: white

Description of the barbarian hedgehog

Hericium barbel has the appearance of a longline, fleshy, undulating mushroom with numerous hanging mustaches white-cream or white colors. Antennal caps often grow sideways in black hairsmen. The height of the fruiting body reaches 15 centimeters, and the diameter can be 20 centimeters.

Thanks to its fan-shaped shape, the mushroom looks very unusual. The barbel's mane, in general, does not have a cap and legs, and the hanging antennae look like waves. Due to this feature, barbel hedgehogs have no common resemblance to common types of mushrooms.

The color of the cap is pinkish, the edges are raised. The color of the edges can be reddish or coral in color, making the mushroom easy to see in the forest. The hymenophore is formed by long, thick, soft conical needles.

The flesh of barbel's mane is fleshy, cotton-like, it tastes pleasant with a good aroma. Places of growth and time of fruiting

These mushrooms grow on tree trunks. They can be seen on stumps and trunks in mixed forests. Antennae hericum give preference to wet places. On the ground, they are rare, but on trees they grow together, intertwining into beautiful inflorescences.

Antennal hedgehogs are easy to find in the forest, as they have a bright color, therefore they are noticeable from afar. These mushrooms are not always available for collection, as they can grow very high on the trunks. Cutting off one barbel hedgehog, you can get a mass of up to 700 grams. These mushrooms bear fruit in the fall. They are collected either at the end of summer or in early autumn. They often grow in tiers.

Useful properties of barbaceous hedgehog

The second name of this mushroom is antennae creolophus. This name is used in medicine. Extracts from barbel's mane help in the treatment of diseases of the stomach, respiratory systems and are used as a means of immunomodulation.

It is believed that barnacle infusions gently envelop the stomach, thereby reducing pain in gastritis and other problems with the digestive system. This tool is used as a prophylaxis against gastrointestinal cancer.

Tinctures are made only from young mushrooms, which have juicy needles and tender pulp.

Edible barnacle hedgehog

At a young age, these mushrooms are edible and tasty, but as they age they become very tough. Many mushroom pickers appreciate this healthy and tasty treat. But, nevertheless, it is not recommended to collect barbel hedgehogs, since they are rare species.

Similar species

Hericium barbel outwardly similar to the northern climacodon, but the latter is distinguished by a more regular shape. Antennal barnacles have no resemblance to poisonous mushrooms.