Description of bitters, calorie content, chemical composition, benefits and harms when consumed. Meticulous cooking and cooking recipes. How to collect mustards and similar analogues. Gorchak is rich in potassium - this substance stabilizes the heart rhythm, with its lack, erosive damage to the mucous membrane of the genital organs and the digestive tract appears, muscle weakness develops, urination becomes more frequent, and the nervous system is disrupted.
There is a lot of phosphorus in the pulp of the mushroom - a substance that performs a transport function, delivers energy to the cells of the whole organism, supports normal vital activity.
There are more useful substances in the caps and the upper part of the legs of the young mushroom. It is recommended to collect bitters with a cap diameter of about 5 cm and a leg height of up to 7 cm. In mature and old mushrooms, the pulp is already depleted in terms of the composition of nutrients. In addition, mustards have a negative property, they accumulate harmful compounds - salts of heavy metals, mercury, pesticides from the soil. Mature mushrooms can be poisoned.
Useful properties of bitter
This is not to say that the benefits of using bitter are pronounced. Because of the tart taste, mushrooms are soaked in 2 waters, boiled, the composition of nutrients is depleted by about a quarter.
But still, the following positive qualities should be noted:
- Antiseptic action. It is so pronounced that even old fungi are rarely colonized by parasitic worms.
- Antibacterial activity. The composition contains a substance that destroys a very dangerous microorganism for the child's body - Staphylococcus aureus. The same component stops the vital activity of Escherichia coli, Proteus.
- Increases the general immunity of the body, replenishing the reserve of ascorbic acid.
- It stabilizes blood pressure and improves blood formation due to the content of beneficial nutrients.
- Prevents the development of dermatological diseases, improves the quality of the skin when applied externally with fresh milk juice.
- Improves impulse conductivity due to the high content of magnesium, normalizes protein-carbohydrate metabolism.
- Selenium provides an antioxidant effect.
- Reduces blood sugar levels.
- Its high nutritional value promotes satiety and avoids weight gain. The calorie content is low, so when you introduce mushroom dishes from bitters into the diet, you will not have to feel hunger.
In the years of famine, bitter food provided healthy vital functions for the body, and prevented the development of dystrophy. The introduction of this mushroom into the diet allows you to work normally, maintain the growth and physiological development of children at the desired level, prevents rickets and lagging behind in height and weight.
Harm and contraindications to the use of bitters
A contraindication to the use of bitters is the age of children under 6 years of age. This is explained by the property of the pulp to accumulate harmful substances. An adult body, even if the mushrooms were not collected in ecologically clean areas, will be able to remove harmful compounds from the body on its own. Children may develop intoxication - the enzymatic system is fully formed only by puberty.
Mushrooms of the Millechnik family are difficult for the body to digest, therefore, they require careful culinary processing.
Do not eat bitters:
- With pancreatitis;
- With peptic ulcer;
- With gastritis with high and low acidity;
- With liver diseases - infectious and non-infectious nature, with hepatitis, cirrhosis, liver failure.
You should not introduce mustard dishes into the diet during pregnancy and lactation - this can provoke the development of toxicosis in the mother and intestinal colic in the baby.
Contraindications to the use of the mushroom are determined by the type of culinary treatment. Since the product requires soaking, salting, soaking in a marinade, it cannot be added to the daily menu for kidney diseases and hypertension, due to the possibility of exacerbation. Salt, which is necessary to make conditionally edible mushrooms completely edible, disrupts the water-salt balance and worsens the general condition if the excretory and cardiovascular systems are disrupted.
Bitter recipes
Raw bitters have an unpleasant, pungent taste due to the tart juice. To get rid of the pungency, the mushrooms must be thoroughly soaked. The collected mustards are cleaned of dirt and needles, washed, the legs are cut off by 2/3, leaving only a part under the cap.
Pure mushrooms are poured with cold water and placed in a cool place. It is very important to make sure that the bitters in the liquid do not start to grow moldy. For this, the water is changed up to 2-3 times a day. You can add a teaspoon of citric acid and a tablespoon of salt to 1 liter.
After 3 days, you can start preserving or cooking mushrooms. A high-quality product is not soaked in water, does not come apart, the legs and caps remain elastic. Mushroom pulp does not lose its beneficial properties after soaking.
Bitter recipes:
- Frozen bitters … Already soaked mushrooms are boiled in clean water for 5-7 minutes, the water is drained. Boil water in a saucepan again, add black and allspice peas, salt to it. As soon as the water boils, the mushrooms are immersed in it and boiled over low heat to keep the shape, for half an hour. Set aside, remove with a colander on a sieve, allow the water to drain. As soon as the product cools down completely and dries, they are laid out in bags, packed - it is better to iron the polyethylene around the edges with an iron, after releasing the air, remove the workpieces into the refrigerator. Can be used for cooking soups, frying, stewing. Pre-defrosting is optional.
- Fried bitters with potatoes … It is believed that the most delicious bitters are cooked in such a combination. The amount of ingredients is calculated for 500 g of peeled and boiled bitters. Boil the main component again, as described above, with all the necessary spices, and put it on a sieve to get rid of excess liquid. While the water is draining, they are busy with potatoes. 10 large peeled potatoes are boiled in salted water, cut into even slices. Mushrooms are fried in vegetable oil so that a beautiful rich nutty color is obtained. Prepare a deep baking sheet, put potatoes and fried mushrooms in it, pour a glass of fatty sour cream and mix. Send the baking sheet to the oven preheated to 180 ° C. You can try it in 15 minutes. It is advisable to sprinkle each portion with chopped herbs - parsley or dill.
- Pickled mustard according to the classic recipe … The mushrooms prepared for harvesting are poured with water in a large deep saucepan - 2 kg / 1 l, add 2 tablespoons of coarse salt - not iodized, 5 clove sticks, 5 allspice peas, 4 bay leaves. Boil for 5 minutes and pour in 1 tablespoon of vinegar, cook for another 20 minutes. This time is enough to thoroughly sterilize the jars and lids. You can use tin ones, but if you have your own cellar, then nylon ones are also suitable. The boiled raw materials are laid out in jars - it is necessary to ensure that the marinade completely covers the surface of the bitters, and rolled up with lids. To cool down, put upside down under the blanket.
- Simple recipe … Pickled mushrooms prepared using this method cannot be stored. The proportions of the marinade: 1 to 1 - the main product and water, 9% vinegar - 3 tablespoons, 1 tablespoon of salt and sugar. First, put the water on the fire, pouring in all the ingredients for the marinade, let it boil - the salt and sugar should completely dissolve. The soaked mushrooms are carefully lowered, boiled over low heat for about 40 minutes and distributed over the jars.
- Polish way … Why this method was called that is unclear. In Europe, bittersweet is not respected and is not considered a serious product. The proportions of water and the main ingredient are the same as in a simple recipe. First, the marinade is boiled: salt, sugar, clove sticks are poured into cold water. When the marinade has boiled, the mustard prepared in advance is poured into it and boiled for 15 minutes. The jars are sterilized, 5 cloves of garlic (per 1 liter) are spread on the bottom, 2 leaves of laurel, currant and cherry leaves, vinegar is poured in half a teaspoon. The mushrooms are taken out with a slotted spoon, distributed among the jars, poured with marinade and covered with lids, covered with a blanket until they cool completely.
- Bitters under oppression … Mushrooms harvested in this way must be stored in the cellar. For 5 kg of mushrooms - an average oak tub - you need: 25 tablespoons of salt, 10 bay leaves, 25 garlic teeth, a glass of sunflower oil, 1 kg of dill. Hot salting: clean mustards are soaked in an enamel bowl at the rate of 1 tablespoon per 7 liters of water for 2 days, changing the water 2 times. Then the mustards are boiled in clean water for 40 minutes, put in a clean barrel, sprinkled with salt and adding spices. Establish oppression. You can try in a week. Cold salting: soak the mushroom harvest for a week, not less, not forgetting to drain the water regularly and add salt. Then they are placed in a barrel under oppression, adding a little salt and adding spices. Ready in 1, 5 months, not earlier.
Mushrooms of this species should not be treated with disdain. Once cooked, they are as good as mushrooms or russula.
Interesting facts about bitters
Bitters have twins, which are difficult to distinguish from the main counterpart. These include the following types of mushrooms:
- Camphor lactarius - edible;
- Marsh milk - edible;
- Liver miller is inedible, it can be attributed to toadstools.
The main difference between the "original product" and its counterparts is a caustic juice that does not change in the light. All mushrooms have a different smell - when broken, the aroma of fresh shavings emanates from the bitter. The young man's cap is elastic and there is no dent in the center.
If you confuse milk mushrooms with bittersweet, you can assume that luck has smiled. But the liver swordsman can be poisoned, even if it is thoroughly soaked and boiled.
Watch a video about bitter (bitter milk):
Despite the fact that the first crop can be harvested at the beginning of July, it is too early to go to the forest for bitters. From the beginning of September to the end of October, they form such vast colonies that they can be collected in buckets. Interestingly, in lean dry years, when edible valuable mushrooms do not ripen, bitter gives a particularly plentiful harvest.
