Geese are edible mushrooms. Many a housewife knows how to prepare geese so that they are tasty and aromatic. Marinated geese still dominate in Poland. Thanks to pasteurization, you can enjoy them all year round, even in winter. Check the recipes, how to prepare marinated geese and how to properly clean the geese.
Gąskitoedible mushrooms , the group of which is very numerous. Even experienced mushroom pickers do not always know allkinds ofgeese. Due to the fact that many of their varieties have gray, conical caps, it is easy to confuse poisonous geese with edible ones. Such a mistake can result in serious geese poisoning and even lead to death. Each mushroom that we find in the forest should be checked several times to make sure that it does not harm us.
EDIBLE GOOSE
Missile goose(tricholoma portentosum)
This type of geese is found in coniferous and deciduous forests. Usually grows under spruce and pine trees. Almost always in clusters. Often together with a green goose. The greatest rush of these mushrooms occurs in the period from September to December.
The body of a shapeless goose is up to 10 cm long and about 2.5 cm wide. In young geese it is slightly fibrous, then empty and naked. It is white in color, with yellow-green spots in some places. Shapeless geese have bell-shaped, sometimes semicircular caps. As the fungus ages, they often become convex, with a blunt hump at the very top. They are gray-brown in color with shades of yellow and almost black, radiant streaks. The spore discharge of misshapen is white.
The misshapen goose has flesh:
- white or grayish (gray-yellow under the hat skin)
- mild-tasting
- with a mealy smell
There is a high probability of confusing a shapeless goose with another mushroom as it has many poisonous doubles. Therefore, collecting geese is recommended only to people who recognize their individual species very well. Due to an oversight, instead of a shapeless goose in the forest, you can find a tiger goose (tricholoma pardinum) or a soap goose (tricholoma saponaceum). They are highly poisonous and cannot be eaten. The latter can be recognized by rubbing at the bottom of the shaft. It stainsthen red. It also has a characteristic soapy smell, which can help you make a selection between a poisonous mushroom and the desired one. Another mistake of the shapeless goose may be with the slightly poisonous pepper / rod goose (Tricholoma virgatum), but this one is more slender. He has an ashen-gray hat with a conical hump, gray gills, and cracking flesh. At best, the misshapen goose is mistaken for the earthy one (tricholoma terreum). The latter differs by the scaly surface of the hat and the rarer gills, but it is edible. After all, it has a much worse and less expressive taste.
The misshapen goose, like the rest of the mushrooms, goes very well with the meat. By itself, after heat treatment, it can be a complete dish, but for example, as an addition to a pork loin, baked with onion in yellow cheese, it will surely turn out to be an interesting, seasonal addition to dinners.
Willow goose(tricholoma cingulatum)
This type of geese is most often found in riparian forests under deciduous trees: willows, birches. Its greatest rash occurs in the period from July to October.
The core of a willow goose usually reaches a length of up to 8 cm and a width of about 1.5 cm. It has a slightly woolly, almost leathery ring with a fibrous-scale structure underneath. As the fungus ages, it becomes empty and naked. It has a white color. The goose's hat is thin-fleshy and convex. Sometimes spread out with a small hump in the middle. It has a pale gray or gray-brown color. Its edges are bent downwards and covered with the remains of a white cover. The skin does not shine. It is dry and scaly. The spore discharge of the willow goose is white. A willow goose has a flesh:
- strict
- white (slightly yellowed in older mushrooms)
- with a mealy smell
There is a high probability of confusing a willow goose with another fungus, because it has its own poisonous doubles. Therefore, collecting gray or black ingots in a hat is recommended only to people who recognize their individual species very well. By oversight, instead of a willow goose, you can collect in the forest, e.g. poisonous tiger goose (tricholoma pardinum), or slightly poisonous pepper goose / rodent goose (tricholoma virgatum).
Willow goose tastes very good when served in its simplest form, e.g. stewed in butter with s alt and pepper and served with potatoes or bread.
Reddening goose (tricholoma orirubens)
This type of geese is usually found in deciduous and coniferous forests, singly orin groups, most often under beech trees. Its greatest rash occurs in the period from September to November. The core of the reddening goose usually reaches a length of 6 cm and a width of 1.5 cm. Off-white in color with gray or brown-black filaments. It has black and brown scales (sometimes pink). Usually it is lighter at the edges. The spore discharge of a reddening goose is white.
Reddening goose has flesh:
- with a mealy smell and taste
- whitish
- slowly turning red during storage
There is a high probability of confusing the red goose with another fungus because it has poisonous doubles. By neglect, you can collect it in the forest instead, e.g. poisonous tiger goose (tricholoma pardinum) or slightly poisonous pepper goose / rodent goose (tricholoma virgatum). However, the flesh of these mushrooms does not turn red.
If you like cream sauces, you can make one based on reddening ingots. All you need to do is have mushrooms, butter, cream for sauces, onions, possibly garlic and spices to taste. All ingredients must be stewed in the pan so that the whole thing gets the right consistency. You can combine this sauce with any favorite dish. It is best served warm, right after preparation.
Goose green forage(tricholoma eqestre)
These geese grow most abundantly on sandy grounds, in pine forests. Both in groups and individually. Their greatest rash occurs in the period from October to December. Green goose is difficult to find because almost all of its fruiting bodies develop underground. Only the hat is sticking out of the moss / grass.
The core of a goose forage usually reaches a length of 9 cm and a width of 3 cm. In young mushrooms there are longitudinal fibers and protrusions. Later it becomes flat, bald, and yellow or yellow-green. The hat of a goose forage is often slippery, which is why they are almost always contaminated with sand. (Below is information about the easiest way to clean the ingots) It is yellow-green or yellow-brown in color. The center is darker and twisted. The spore discharge in the green goose is white.
The goose forage has flesh:
- hard
- fragile
- white (under the hat peel lemon yellow)
- not changing color after cut
- with a mealy smell
- with a sweet, nutty flavor
There is a high probability of confusing a shapeless goose with another mushroom because it has a poisonous double. It is the sulfur goose (tricholoma sulphureum). However, it is characterized by less frequent gillsand a smaller fruiting body. It also has a yellow, foul-smelling flesh.
Green goose is a type of mushroom which, thanks to its slightly sweet and nutty flavor, goes well with egg dishes. These ingots can be used to prepare egg stuffing.
Spring goose(georgii tricholoma)
This type of geese can be found in meadows, pastures, woodlands and orchards. It grows in groups or singly. Sometimes he creates devil's wheels. The greatest rash of this type of ingots occurs in the period from the end of April to the beginning of June. In the mountains a bit later, from June to mid-July.
The body of misshapen geese usually reaches a length of 9 cm and a width of approx. 3.5 cm. In young geese it is barrel-shaped. Later it becomes full, cylindrical. White or cream in color, and rusty ocher at the bottom. The hat of the spring goose in young mushrooms has the shape of a blunt cone or bell. In mature mushrooms it is convex and flattened. First, white or cream. Later it becomes yellowish-brown in color. The spore discharge of the spring goose is white.
Spring goose has flesh:
- strict
- firm
- juicy
- white
- does not change color after cutting
- with a mealy smell
There is a high probability of confusing a spring goose with a brick shagfish. It is a highly poisonous fungus. Like a goose, it is white when young. It is more difficult to make this mistake in the case of older specimens of the brick sparrow, as its hat becomes reddish-brown with age and its gills turn brown. If you are unsure about these two mushrooms, remember that the poisonous one turns red when the parenchyma is damaged.
Earthy lamellar goose (tricholoma terreum)
It usually occurs on calcareous soils under pine trees. The greatest rash of these mushrooms occurs in the period from August to November.
The core of an earthy lamella goose usually reaches a length of 8 cm and a width of approx. 1 cm. In young geese it is brittle, and later becomes hollow, smooth and branched at the top. White in color, and sometimes bluish-grayish. The hat of an earthy-lamellar goose is bell-shaped, later spread out. Often with a dull hump. It has a light or dark gray color. The skin of this fungus is fibrous or scaly. The spore discharge of misshapen goose is white.
The earthy lamellar goose has a flesh:
- does not change color when cutting
- thin
- breakable
- white-gray
- mild-tasting
- about weak, non-flour(characteristic for geese) smell
There is a high probability of confusing an earthy lamellar goose with another fungus because it has poisonous doubles. Therefore, collecting gray or black ingots in a hat is recommended only to people who recognize their individual species very well. By negligence, instead of an earthy lamella goose, you can collect in the forest, e.g. a poisonous tiger goose (it differs with a mealy smell), or a slightly poisonous pepper / beetle goose.
The sallow and lamellar goose is very well suited for marinating. All you need to do is make a traditional, tasty pickle from water, vinegar, sugar, s alt, allspice, pepper and bay leaves, and you will be able to enjoy the taste of the collected mushrooms even during the winter, eating marinated geese from the jar.
Worth knowing
How to clean ingots?
1. Perform the first cleaning of the ingots in the forest, getting rid of unnecessary needles, leaves and moss remnants. 2. After returning home, immediately start a thorough cleaning of the ingots so that the dirt does not dry up to them even more. Rinse all the geese thoroughly under running water, once again making sure that the mushrooms you have collected are edible. 4. If you have not managed to remove all the dirt, you can leave some specimens in the water longer and clean them after a while. Alternatively, use a wet cloth or a knife to remove heavily soiled areas.
POISONOUS GOOSE
Tiger goose - Tiger goose(tricholoma pardinum / pardalotum)
It occurs in coniferous and deciduous forests. It grows singly or in several copies. It is rarely found in large groups. The greatest rush of these mushrooms occurs in the period from August to October. Tiger goose is not often seen, but in such a situation its fleshy and plump fruiting bodies tempt mushroom pickers with their appearance.
A tiger goose has a stem up to approx. 8 cm long and 3.5 cm wide. It is cylindrical with a fibrous surface in young mushrooms and bald in older ones. Its base is ocher-rusty. He has a gray-brown hat with fibrous, silvery-gray or gray-black hyphae, the most densely arranged in the center. In young geese, the hat is bell-shaped. Flattened in the elderly. The spore discharge of the tiger goose is white.
Goose tiger has flesh:
- does not change color after cutting
- with a weak, mild taste (do not try!)
- with a pleasant but indistinct mealy smell
- white (under the skin slightlygray)
Tiger goose can be confused with a few mushrooms. It is similar, for example, to an edible goose that turns red. In contrast, it is a highly poisonous mushroom. In the initial stage, poisoning manifests itself with diarrhea and prolonged colic-like abdominal pain.
Gąska pepperna / Gąska rózgowata (tricholoma virgatum)
This type of geese is found in coniferous forests, very rarely in deciduous forests. He likes acid soils the most. Its greatest rash occurs in the period from August to October.
The stem of a goose is approx. 8 cm long and 2 cm wide. It is cylindrical or slightly thickened. It has a fibrous structure and a white or gray color. The hat has a pointed-conical shape. It is gray or metallic gray. You can see the dark rays of the fibers on it. The edges are folded downwards. Its skin is silky and when dry it shines in the sun. The spore discharge is white in color.
Gąska pepperna / goose meat is flesh:
- with a radish-like smell
- with a searing taste (don't try!)
- white (slightly gray under the skin)
The tiger goose can be confused with the hot goose (trichiloma sciodes), which is also poisonous. Eating these mushrooms produces similar symptoms. In this case, you can make an error of judgment and assume that they are good and tasty because they look very similar to many edible ingots. Therefore, before eating any mushroom, it is worth checking several times that it is fit for consumption.
Sources: 1. ,, Edible mushrooms and their poisonous doubles - A guide for mushroom pickers "Hans E. Laux, Warsaw 2. ,, Mushrooms" Aurel Dermek, Wyd. Sport and Tourism, Warsaw 19813. ,, Lexicon of Nature - Mushrooms "Helmut and Renate Grunert, translated by Jadwiga Kozłowska, GeoCenter Publishing, Warsaw