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Oak mushroom is a mushroom from the Russula family, which is also found in descriptions under the name of oak camelina. The fungus has a good taste and also has a lot of useful properties, you should familiarize yourself with them in a little more detail.
Where does the oak tree grow
The habitat of the oak mushroom is broad-leaved forests, mainly oak forests, which is the reason for the name of the fungus. The fungus is found not only under oaks, but also under hornbeams and beeches; it comes across quite often during the period of active fruiting.
The fungus has an interesting feature, which is reflected in the name – it grows most often in large groups. Moreover, the mushrooms are located very closely to each other and are more reminiscent of a small bush or a bunch.
What does an oak tree look like
Photos and descriptions of oak camelina demonstrate that it is easy to distinguish it from other varieties by its brick-orange or yellow-orange bright hat. The shape of the cap is funnel-shaped, the felt edges are slightly wrapped inward. The underside of the cap of the oak mushroom is covered with wide frequent plates with a reddish or white-pink color.
Oak fungus has a dense and even stem of pink or off-white color. Inside the leg is hollow, in the lower part it tapers slightly.
The flesh of the fungus at the break is dense, white or pale cream with white milky juice. A recognizable feature of the oak mushroom is that its juice does not change color from contact with air.
Is it possible to eat oak mushroom
Oak fungus is conditionally edible. This means that it is allowed to eat it, but the fungus requires careful processing. You can’t eat raw mushrooms – the milky juice gives them a bitter taste and a special pungency.
The taste of the mushroom
Oak camelina is defined as the 2nd category of edible mushrooms – the taste characteristics are quite high, but inferior to the taste of “noble” mushrooms. Fresh oak mushrooms are very bitter and caustic, they can be cooked only after a long soaking – water relieves mushrooms of an unpleasant pungent taste.
Benefits and harm to the body
In cooking, the fungus is valued not only for the pleasant taste that appears after a long soaking and heat treatment. Breast brings great benefits to the body.
- The mushroom contains a huge amount of protein – 100 g of the product contains more amino acids and protein compounds than beef. Therefore, milk mushrooms are highly recommended for vegetarians and people with an increased need for protein foods.
- Oak mushrooms have a positive effect on the metabolic system, they help to remove toxins from the body, lower blood cholesterol and help regulate sugar levels.
- Milk mushrooms can be used for inflammatory diseases, diseases of the gallbladder and liver. The fungus effectively fights infections, and also prevents kidney and liver diseases, regulates the separation of bile.
- Milk mushrooms contain many vitamins from group B, so you can eat them with diseases of the muscular and nervous systems, with neurosis and sleep problems.
- The composition of the oak camelina contains substances that are beneficial for tuberculosis and emphysema – the fungus helps fight severe lung ailments.
Eating fungi is useful for maintaining beauty and youth. They contain vitamin D, which is responsible, among other things, for cell renewal and for maintaining healthy hair and skin.
Of course, with its unconditional benefits, oak camelina has some contraindications. It is not recommended to eat it:
- in chronic diseases of the stomach and intestines – the fungus is hard to digest and can aggravate the condition with ulcers and gastritis;
- if you are allergic to mushrooms or individual components in their composition;
- with a tendency to diarrhea or chronic constipation.
False doubles
The oak mushroom has no toxic counterparts – all mushrooms that can be confused with it are somehow edible. Most often, the mushroom is confused with several varieties of mushrooms, and they can be eaten at all even without prior soaking.
Japanese camelina
This mushroom resembles an oak mushroom with its outlines, the structure of the stem and cap and color, it can be not only light pink, but also orange or reddish. On the hat of the Japanese camelina, diverging circles of the color of salmon or terracotta are noticeable, and the leg has a similar structure.
The easiest way to tell mushrooms apart is to break them open and look at the flesh. The Japanese camelina produces not white, but rich red milky juice.
Blue breast
Blue and oak milk mushrooms belong to the same genus, so they are easy to confuse with each other, they are similar in size, structure and color. In the bluish species, the cap is usually yellowish and brittle at the edges, and the flesh is dense and white.
However, you can recognize a false double by its characteristic feature, reflected in the title. If you press on the leg of a blue milk mushroom, it will acquire a bluish tint. At a break, the mushroom secretes a white milky juice, and from contact with air it acquires a slight purple hue.
Spruce camelina
Like the oak mushroom, the spruce camelina can have a reddish cap color. Mushrooms are similar in shape and size. But the difference between them lies in the fact that the spruce camelina quickly turns green from contact with air – the flesh acquires a green tint at a break, as well as the stem and lower plates when pressed.
Another difference is the milky juice, which in spruce camelina is not white, but red. The taste of raw camelina is quite pleasant, but the breast has a noticeable bitterness.
Pine mushroom
The oak mushroom is often confused with the common camelina, mushrooms have almost the same bright color and are very similar in structure. Despite the fact that the camelina grows mainly under pines, and the mushroom grows mainly under oaks, sometimes the latter can also come across in coniferous forests.
However, the difference is easy to see. Pine saffron milk cap is rapidly turning green at the places of cuts, its milky juice is orange and also becomes green from contact with air.
Collection rules
The oak mushroom begins to ripen as early as July, but it is rare to meet it during this period – the fungus develops mainly underground. Only closer to autumn, oak mushrooms come to the surface en masse, and the peak is in September and October, at which time they need to be collected.
Look for oak milk mushrooms in broad-leaved forests with a predominance of beeches, oaks and hornbeams. Sometimes milk mushrooms come across even in pine forests. Since the collection takes place in autumn, it can be difficult to see the orange caps of mushrooms in the fallen leaves, you need to carefully look under your feet.
In order not to harm the mushroom mycelium, it is recommended to remove the fungus from the ground by gently “unscrewing” the legs. You can also use a sharp knife to cut away the fungus above the soil surface. For collection, you should choose clean forests located away from large cities and major roads.
Cooking oak mushroom
You can’t eat oak mushrooms raw, they have a too bitter taste and require long soaking. Before cooking, peeled milk mushrooms are placed in cold water for several days, which is periodically replaced. During this time, all the milky juice comes out of the pulp, and the mushrooms become suitable for use in food.
Oak milk mushrooms cannot be dried, but all other cooking methods are suitable for them. Mushrooms are pickled and salted with garlic and spices, boiled and fried, stewed and baked in the oven. Mushrooms go well with meat and vegetable dishes, suitable for adding to salads and soups, and the nutritional value of dishes greatly increases when using milk mushrooms.
Conclusion
Oak mushroom is a useful edible mushroom, which is very often found in autumn in deciduous forests. Before use, it must be properly processed and soaked, but after that the mushroom becomes suitable for any cooking method and adorns many culinary dishes.
