Is it possible to eat umbrella mushrooms? Edible umbrella mushroom: exotic appearance and excellent taste! Umbrellas white and amianth

The edible umbrella mushroom, according to many experienced mushroom pickers, is one of the most delicious and healthy representatives of the mushroom kingdom. Umbrellas belong to the Champignon family. Unfortunately, they are not very popular in our country, which is due to their similarity to some types of deadly poisonous mushrooms.

Botanical description

Huge representatives of this species, reminiscent of giant umbrellas, arranged in a characteristic “witch’s circle”, are quite often found in forest areas.

These reach a height of 0.35-0.45 m, and the diameter of the cap reaches 0.25-0.35 m. In young specimens, the plates are closely pressed against the stem; with age they become horizontal. There are many types of umbrellas, the main ones are presented in the table.

Photo gallery

Most edible mushrooms growing in our country have poisonous counterparts, and the umbrella species is no exception in this regard. The false or inedible umbrella mushroom comes in two main varieties:

• lead slag chlorophyllum (Chlorophyllum molybdites);
• dark brown chlorophyllum (Chlorophyllum brunneum).

Both species, due to the soil and climatic characteristics of our country, are not widespread in Russia and are found mainly in America, Eurasia, Australia and Africa.

Umbrella mushroom: features of collection (video)

Many inexperienced mushroom pickers confuse Macrolepiota with fly agarics . However, these two species can be easily distinguished by the following characteristics:

• the presence of a three-layer ring on the Macrolepiota stalk, which can be easily moved both up and down;
• the umbrellas have completely no remains of the covering on the stem;
• fly agarics have a smooth and shiny cap, while Macrolepiota is characterized by a matte surface.

Edible umbrellas are characterized by pronounced cracking of the skin, but in the central part it always remains intact.

Distribution area

The umbrella belongs to the category of saprotrophs and prefers sandy soils in light forests. Quite often found in clearings and forest edges, and also thrives in forest clearings or clearings. In some years it can be found in open areas; recently it has become a frequent visitor to forested areas and garden plots. Grows best in temperate climates.

Fruiting occurs from early summer to mid-autumn. The lamellar mushroom grows singly or in small groups. The species is prone to the formation of “witch circles”.

Cooking methods

Preparing Macrolepiota dishes is very simple. These mushrooms are suitable for making soups, very tasty and nutritious second courses, and cold appetizers.

Even novice housewives can cook aromatic soup from umbrellas:

• rinse and soak the mushrooms for a couple of hours in cold and salted water;
• Wash the mushrooms again and cut into small pieces;
• chop onions and potatoes;
• grate the peeled carrots on a coarse grater;
• sauté onions and carrots in vegetable oil until tender;
• add water to the mushrooms, bring to a boil and cook for 20-25 minutes;
• add potatoes to the soup, and after 15 minutes add the sauté and spices and cook until tender.

Mushroom soup should be served with fresh herbs and fresh sour cream.

Baked umbrellas, which are prepared according to the following recipe, have a unique mushroom aroma and delicate taste:

• Carefully peel and rinse the mushrooms, remove the stems completely;
• In a blender, beat eggs with salt and chopped garlic;
• Dip mushroom caps into egg mixture and roll in breadcrumbs.

The resulting mushroom preparations can be baked in the oven or fried in a hot frying pan until golden brown. This dish can be consumed not only hot, but also cold.

The umbrella is a wonderful mushroom that is often found in our forests. Unfortunately, this tasty mushroom is not popular, as many mushroom pickers are afraid to confuse it with toadstools.

Why is the mushroom called an “umbrella”?

The umbrella mushroom really resembles an umbrella. In the forest you can find huge umbrellas, which are sometimes arranged in “witch circles”, up to 40 cm high with a hat up to 30 cm in diameter. This mushroom opens like a real umbrella: at first the plates (“spokes”) are closely pressed to the stem (“umbrella handle”), then they move away from it and take a horizontal position. This similarity is striking, so few doubt the accuracy of the name. Many edible mushrooms have poisonous counterparts. Umbrellas are no exception. Moreover, not all umbrella mushrooms are edible. Therefore, you should never forget the main rule of a mushroom picker - take only those mushrooms that you know well.

This is not a fly agaric!

Many types of umbrella mushrooms are tasty edible mushrooms, but often mushroom pickers do not collect them and knock them over, thinking that they have found them (porphyry or panther). Let's try to list the main differences between these completely different mushrooms. Let's start with the scales. The scales on the fly agaric cap are the remains of the cover of young mushrooms. As the fungus grows, they hold on less and less. The caps of old fly agarics are often smooth, with sparse scales. The umbrella mushroom does not immediately develop scales on its cap. The central part of the cap remains without scales. It is darker and smoother. The stem of an adult umbrella mushroom has a three-layer ring that can be moved up and down along the stem. There is no blanket or its remains at the base of the leg.

The umbel slender can be confused with some inedible mushrooms, such as the purple umbel, which smells unpleasant and has a bitter taste. There are other umbrella mushrooms, the consumption of which leads to poisoning or stomach upset. For example, an inedible comb umbrella with a cap 2–5 cm in diameter. You should not collect a masteoid umbrella (cap 8–12 cm). Its cap is covered with granular scales, the plates are white. There is also a deadly poisonous umbrella, fleshy-reddish, the cap of which is only 2 - 6 cm in diameter.

Edible umbrellas, variegated, thin and blushing, are so different in appearance from any “doubles” that identifying them is not difficult at all. However, if in doubt, it is better to pass by, leaving these umbrellas to more experienced mushroom pickers.

The umbrella mushroom is variegated, thin and blushing

In our forests, the most common umbrella is variegated, thin and red. It is worth noting that in the popular literature there is confusion in identifying the types of umbrella mushroom. The reddened umbrella especially suffers from this, which in some reference books is accompanied by the stigma of “poisonous”, while in others it is recommended as a very tasty mushroom. Most likely, it means a fleshy-reddish umbrella. In addition, the same umbrella mushroom is often presented under different species names (“variegated” - “great” - “large”, etc.). The variegated umbrella is more often found in birch and mixed forests; it chooses places that are lighter: clearings, forest edges and even pastures. Its miniature copy is a thin umbrella with a cap up to 10 cm in diameter and a stem up to 15 cm high. Another thing is the umbrella mushroom that is reddened (shaggy). He prefers coniferous forests. The blushing umbrella is slightly smaller than the motley one. The edges of its scaly cap are slightly wavy. This species is easily distinguished by its flesh, which quickly turns red (or slightly red) on all cuts. Adult mushrooms may have a pinkish tint to the plates.

Young umbrellas are the most delicious

How to cook umbrella mushroom?

The umbrella mushroom, or rather its cap, is very tasty. The stem of this mushroom is discarded, as it consists of long, hard fibers. Try frying the cap in vegetable oil. I am sure that you will like it so much that the umbrella will become one of your favorite mushrooms. I enjoy eating a cap that is well fried on both sides (like a pancake). First from the records side. It can first be rolled in flour, breadcrumbs or beaten egg. This mushroom (fresh and dry) is also good for soup. Young umbrellas are salted and pickled. The umbrella cooks quickly, almost like champignons. Some people eat this mushroom raw, using it in salads or making sandwiches with it. The scales on the cap do not need to be removed. Gourmets cook the umbrella mushroom not only in a frying pan, but also on the oven rack (with a tray) or barbecue. Definitely with herbs, pepper and garlic. It turns out very tasty.

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Beginners and experienced lovers of quiet hunting will be interested in learning how to cook umbrella mushrooms. Those who have not yet heard of such a forest inhabitant will be interested in basic information about the appearance, properties, rules of preparation and processing of the product.

What does an umbrella mushroom look like?

Edible umbrella mushrooms live up to their name. In the process of growth, forest gifts open their caps, previously adjacent to the legs, like an umbrella. However, many mushroom pickers do not know the special signs that confirm the edibility of the mushroom and distinguish it from its toadstool counterparts and undeservedly bypass the delicious mushrooms.

Umbrella mushrooms - benefits and harm

Umbrella mushrooms, the beneficial properties of which will be described below, can become not only a delicious delicacy, but also a valuable product that can improve health.

1. Mushrooms are high in fiber, proteins, fats and carbohydrates. The low glycemic index of the product allows it to be effectively used in the diet menu for weight loss.
2. “Umbrellas” contain the lion’s share of vitamins B, PP, C, E, K, and many different elements. In addition, they contain anti-cancer components and natural antioxidants that have antitumor and antibacterial effects and a rejuvenating effect.
3. All valuable elements in the complex help cleanse blood vessels, reduce cholesterol levels, strengthen the cardiovascular, nervous and endocrine systems.
4. It is not recommended to use umbrella mushrooms for diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, liver and pancreas. The product is contraindicated for use by children and pregnant women.

How to clean umbrella mushrooms?

The following information will help you understand how to process umbrella mushrooms. Depending on the species, the technology for preliminary preparation of forest inhabitants may differ slightly, but the basic points remain the same.

1. The stems of most varieties of umbrellas are not edible due to excessive fibrous and hardness. Therefore, the first thing to do is to remove these parts by “unscrewing” them from the caps. You shouldn’t rush and throw away a seemingly unnecessary product: it can be dried, ground in a coffee grinder and used as a mushroom seasoning.
2. Few-scaled caps are simply rinsed under running water, rubbing the top a little with your hands.
3. “Shaggy” mushroom caps need to be scraped a little with a knife and only then rinsed.

How to cook umbrella mushrooms?

If, as a result of a quiet hunt, your basket is filled with umbrella mushrooms, recipes for preparing the product will help you use them in cooking correctly and tasty.

1. The fastest and easiest way to cook mushrooms is to fry them in a frying pan with or without batter, with the addition of seasonings and spices, or using a simple set of salt and pepper.
2. Hot dishes made from umbrella mushrooms for starters are especially tasty and aromatic. The broth acquires incredible richness and aroma and is complemented by a valuable filler in the form of sliced ​​mushrooms.
3. Pre-boiled or fried “umbrellas” will be ideal for a salad or other multi-ingredient treat.
4. If you want to prepare an umbrella mushroom for future use, recipes for canning the product, and recommendations for properly drying and freezing it will help you execute the idea in the best possible way.

How to fry umbrella mushrooms?

The taste is reminiscent of chicken fillet, they are filling and nutritious. Even without adding spices, the dish is self-sufficient and aromatic, and if you add garlic, chopped herbs or sprinkle grated cheese on top at the end of frying, it will turn into a real culinary masterpiece.

Ingredients:

• umbrella mushrooms – 5-10 pcs.;
• flour – 100 g;
• lard or butter – 50 g;
• salt pepper.

Preparation

1. The hats are thoroughly rinsed, dried, dipped in flour mixed with salt and pepper, and placed in lard heated in a frying pan.
2. Fry mushrooms for 5-7 minutes on each side or until desired degree of browning.

How to cook umbrella mushrooms in batter?

The following recipe is about how to properly cook umbrella mushrooms in batter. When whole or sliced ​​caps are fried in this way, they retain their juiciness on the inside, acquiring a golden, appetizing crust on the outside. If desired, you can add finely chopped fresh dill, parsley, dried garlic or other additives to taste.

Ingredients:

• umbrella mushrooms – 5-10 pcs.;
• egg – 2 pcs.;
• flour – 150 g;
• breadcrumbs – 100 g;
• butter – 50 g;

• salt pepper.

Preparation

1. After the mushroom caps are prepared, make the batter for the umbrella mushrooms. Beat the egg with salt and pepper, adding a couple of tablespoons of flour.
2. The caps are dipped in flour, then in the egg mixture, and then breaded in breadcrumbs.
3. Immediately place the umbrellas in heated oil and brown on both sides.

Umbrella mushroom soup - recipe

Umbrella mushroom soup will be fragrant and rich. The proposed basic recipe can be used as a basis for preparing other versions of the hot dish, adding any cereal or other vegetables to it. When serving, it’s delicious to top the dish with sour cream and sprinkle with fresh chopped dill or parsley.

Ingredients:

• umbrella mushrooms – 500 g;
• water – 2 l;
• potatoes – 4 pcs.;
• onions and carrots – 4 pcs.;
• butter – 50 g;
• laurel, peppercorns - to taste;
• salt pepper.

Preparation

1. Cut the caps, put them in a container with water and cook for 20 minutes.
2. Add potatoes, and after 10 minutes add fried onions and carrots made in oil in a frying pan.
3. Season hot to taste, heat at low boil for 5 minutes.

How to cook umbrella mushrooms with eggs?

Umbrella mushrooms fried with onions and eggs are especially tasty. The dish is prepared in a frying pan or in a saucepan in the form. The delicacy will be richer if you mix a little sour cream or mayonnaise into the beaten egg mass, and before serving, sprinkle the dish with cheese and pour over butter.

Ingredients:

• umbrella mushrooms – 5 pcs.;
• onion – 1 pc.;
• egg – 3 pcs.;
• sour cream – 30 g;
• cheese, herbs - to taste;
• butter – 50 g;
• salt pepper.

Preparation

1. Cut the prepared umbrellas and fry with onion half rings for 10 minutes.
2. Pour the contents of the pan with an egg beaten with salt, pepper and sour cream.
3. Cover the container with a lid and leave until the omelette is ready.

How to prepare umbrella mushrooms for the winter?

It is known that any fresh mushrooms do not tolerate long-term storage in unprocessed form and require use within 24 hours. If mushroom pickers know how to deal with popular types of forest gifts, only a few know how to store umbrella mushrooms. Simple recommendations will help improve your skills in this matter and replenish your supplies with the necessary supplies.

1. Umbrella mushrooms can be dried, frozen, and used to create all sorts of preparations.
2. The product is tasty in marinated form or in the form of caviar prepared from it.
3. The dried caps are used for food after soaking, and the stems are ground into powder and used as a flavoring additive.
4. The frozen product is added to soups, main courses, and snacks.

How to dry umbrella mushrooms in the oven?

It's easy and simple to dry umbrella mushrooms in the oven. The workpiece can be stored for a long time in vacuum bags or containers without access to air or in ventilated bags, fabric bags, protecting it from foreign odors and moisture.

1. If necessary, the mushrooms are rinsed, dried and, if possible, dried a little in the sun.
2. Place the umbrellas on a baking sheet or wire rack with parchment and place them in an oven preheated to 50 degrees.
3. When drying in a gas oven or device without a fan, keep the door slightly open.
4. Drying time will depend on the size of the mushroom specimens, the capabilities of the oven and is determined individually.

How to salt umbrella mushrooms?

And mixed forests throughout almost the entire territory of our country. Externally, an umbrella mushroom resembles some. Therefore, it ends up in the basket only of those mushroom pickers who are well versed in the varieties of representatives of the mushroom kingdom.

There are three main varieties of umbrella mushrooms. These are white, variegated and blushing umbrella mushrooms. They differ not only in their appearance, but also in their places of growth. Therefore, we will look at each of them separately so that you can form your own idea about this common mushroom.

Where does the umbrella mushroom grow?

The umbrella mushroom begins to delight mushroom pickers with its growth from the beginning of July. At this time, you can find variegated and white species of this mushroom in large quantities in fields, pastures and along roads. A little later, at the beginning of August, in mixed and coniferous forests, the mycelium of the blushing umbrella begins to bear fruit. It begins its active growth after heavy summer rain, followed by clear and warm weather. Literally the next day you can go mushroom hunting in nearby forests and fields.

It should be remembered that the structural composition of the soil is important for the umbrella mushroom. He loves well-fertilized, humus-rich soils. Therefore, the largest colonies are found in pastures where cattle have been walking for several years. In forest conditions, it chooses places for its reproduction that are densely covered with a turf layer of humus and fallen leaves.

Collecting the variegated umbrella mushroom

It is quite difficult to confuse the variegated umbrella mushroom with another representative of this type of vegetation. This is a fairly large mushroom with a characteristic egg-shaped cap. During life, the cap reaches 25 cm in diameter. As it grows, it gradually changes its shape, turning into a bell and then completely straightening the edges into a flat saucer. There is a small tubercle in the center of the cap. The color scheme of the umbrella cap varies from gray to bright brown. A distinctive feature is the covering of the outer surface of the cap with small triangular-shaped scales. On the inside of the cap there are white plates. With age they acquire a reddish tint. Below the plates there is a membranous ring that separates them from the stalk.

The leg usually grows up to 35 cm in length. At the same time, it remains quite thin, up to 3 cm in diameter. The outer surface is covered with scales.

We are looking for a red umbrella mushroom

The red umbrella mushroom differs from its variegated counterpart in its more modest size. Its cap can only grow up to 20 cm. Its distinctive feature lies not only in the color of the outer surface of the cap. It changes as it grows. At first the cap is gray, then it turns red. In addition, the scales covering the outer surface of the cap of the blushing umbrella are quite remarkable. They have a square shape.

The leg is thin and long, covered with scales. The stem is separated from the cap by a dense ring, which consists of the pulp of the mushroom. The photos that are presented below in the photo gallery can help you identify the umbrella mushroom.

What does a white umbrella mushroom look like?

The white umbrella mushroom is the most common species in central Russia. It is found with equal success in various types of forests, as well as in pastures, parks and vegetable gardens.

The mushroom cap is not large and has an ovoid shape at the beginning of its growth. Then it opens up like an umbrella. The diameter of the cap of the white umbrella mushroom when opened is 10 cm. The inner pulp, plates and stem of the mushroom are white throughout its entire life. But you can see a thin membranous ring on the leg, which moves quite easily along the length. The leg is thin and long.

The “Umbrella” mushroom belongs to the Champignon genus, but is completely different from them in its exotic appearance, or rather, its unusually shaped cap, which is shaped like an umbrella. In our forests you can find “Umbrellas”, edible and poisonous. Due to their excellent taste, their edible varieties are highly prized among experienced mushroom pickers. They grow almost all over the globe in mixed and deciduous forests, less often found in parks and meadows.

In forests, they grow in areas where there are accumulations of leaves or branches. The largest mushrooms can grow up to several tens of centimeters in length.

Edible varieties of the Umbrella mushroom

Poisonous varieties

1. Comb umbrella or "silverfish" ("lepiota comb"). In appearance, this mushroom resembles edible variegated and red umbrellas, but unlike its fellows, it is poisonous. When consumed, it provokes poisoning; typical symptoms of intoxication are severe vomiting, cramps, intestinal cramps, diarrhea and headache.

The cap is white, less often gray, beige or pinkish, but over time it acquires a brown tint. Its dimensions are small, the surface is covered with many brown plates. The mushroom can be recognized by the characteristic growths on its outer side, forming many scales that resemble scallops in shape.

The leg is thin and short, yellow or reddish in color, and has a fibrous structure. In the middle of the stem, young mushrooms have a thickening in the shape of a ring, but over time it disappears. Another distinguishing feature of the comb parasol is its rotten, unpleasant odor.

It grows from July to October, grows in fields, in nettle thickets, on the side of the road, in fields and meadows, often found in parks and squares in cities.

2. Lepiota poisonous( brown-red or chestnut)

Another inedible variety of umbrellas, lepiota is considered deadly poisonous.

Her hat is small, gray-red in color, covered with circles consisting of dark brown scales. On its inner side there are many thin yellowish plates that secrete poisonous spores that are toxic to humans.

The leg is cylindrical, pinkish, sometimes brown, without thickening.

Symptoms of lepiota poisoning appear within a few minutes after eating it. The mushroom is extremely dangerous because it can cause cardiac arrest and even death of the victim. It grows in mixed deciduous and coniferous forests, less often in meadows and summer cottages. Fruits from July to the end of October.

By looking at a detailed description of what the Umbrella mushroom looks like, photos, edible and poisonous species, you can get a clear idea of ​​these rather unusual families.