Use

Salting

Salting is the oldest and most traditional way of preserving mushrooms in Eastern Europe. It's not just a way to keep the harvest using salt as a preservative; it's a complex biochemical process of lactic acid fermentation, similar to making sauerkraut.

It's the fermentation process that makes salting the only proper method for a huge group of conditionally edible mushrooms.

24 species in the database.

Who is salting made for?

According to M.Ya. Zerova, salting is ideal for mushrooms that contain acrid, bitter resins (milky latex), as well as for species with brittle flesh:

1. The milk cap family (Lactarius): Milk caps (Lactarius resimus, ugly milk cap — L. turpis, peppery milk cap — L. piperatus), woolly milk caps, saffron milk caps, rufous milk caps. These are the classic "salting" mushrooms. Salt and lactic acid break down the bitter resins, and an inedible, acrid mushroom turns into a superb crunchy delicacy.

2. Brittlegills (Russula): Some bitter or acrid brittlegills are also great for salting. On top of that, salt makes their very brittle flesh firm and springy.

Two salting methods

1. The cold method (long and proper): Used for very bitter mushrooms (milk caps, woolly milk caps). The raw mushrooms are soaked in cold water for 2 to 5 days (changing the water constantly) to wash out the most acrid latex. Then they're layered with salt, dill and garlic and placed under a weight in a cool spot. Fermentation takes 30–45 days. Only after that do the mushrooms become safe and tasty.

2. The hot method (quick): Used for less bitter mushrooms (brittlegills, some Tricholoma) or when you're short on time. The mushrooms are boiled for 15-20 minutes (pouring off the bitter cooking water!), cooled and layered with salt. You can eat them after just 7-10 days.

(The exception: saffron milk caps are among the few milk caps that aren't bitter. They're salted using the dry method with no soaking, and they're ready in just 3-5 days.)

Questions and answers

Why don't people in the West eat salted milk caps?

David Arora notes in «Mushrooms Demystified» that in North America and Western Europe the culture of soaking and fermenting mushrooms for weeks never historically took root. Since a raw or simply fried milk cap is unbearably bitter and causes stomach upset, Western guides label all these mushrooms "Inedible" or "Poisonous."

Can you salt porcini?

Technically yes, but cooks consider it a "crime." Porcini have no bitterness that needs to be removed by fermentation, and their delicate aroma simply vanishes under dill, garlic and acid. Drying or freezing suits porcini best.

Sources

1.Зерова М.Я. та ін. Визначник грибів України. 1979
2.Roger Phillips. Mushrooms (Roger Phillips)
3.David Arora. Mushrooms Demystified
4.Index Fungorum