“For mushroom pickers, both the mushroom catalog and various apps will really broaden their horizons. You find an obscure mushroom, sponge or lichen, take a photo, and immediately see if you need it or not. The selection is best done in the forest – it’s safer,” says the pharmacist of “Gintarinės vaistinės”.
Being an avid mushroom picker himself, K. Beržinis advises to be more careful with champignons – those that have champignons, not holes, at the bottom. Because all the most poisonous ones growing in Lithuania are of this species – green fly myrtle or others. At that time, from the mushrooms that have tubes under the cap, only the devil’s boletus was poisonous, but no one had seen it in Lithuania for a long time.
A decoction of some mushrooms is also useful
After separating inedible mushrooms from edible ones, the latter must be paid and prepared. “And here, the pharmacist and the one who prepares the mushrooms often have different views. It’s the same except for the boletus carpaccio: you cut the whole heads into slices, sprinkle with salt and pepper, sprinkle with good oil and it’s delicious!”, says K. Beržinis.
As a pharmacist, he recommends boiling the mushrooms for a long time, then chopping them with a chopper, drying the resulting pulp, then grinding it again and taking a teaspoon with hot water three times a day. Mushrooms prepared in this way provide soluble and insoluble fibers, the most important of which are beta-glucans. Mushrooms also contain other useful substances: all nine essential amino acids, ergothionine, the amino acid of youth, ergosterol, glutathione, serotonin, melatonin, vitamin E, B group vitamins, micro- and macroelements.
The pharmacist advised to pour out only the water in which bitter or toxic mushrooms were boiled. After boiling, the other liquid should be used to prepare broths, soups, cocktails, sauces or other healthy dishes.
Mushroom decoction is rich in soluble fibers that modulate the work of our immune system through macrophages, granulocytes or even bone marrow. And the insoluble beta-glucans remaining in cooked mushrooms are extremely useful for the intestinal microbiota, on which the activity of the immune system also depends, contributing to a better mood, calmer sleep and belly bliss.
“A common chef will fry fresh boletus in melted butter, fry the onions separately, then mix everything, add salt and spices and serve it on pizza, pasta, buckwheat or potatoes. Such dishes will tickle the smell and taste receptors, will be delicious, but will provide less health benefits, since they will contain less beta-glucans. Therefore, let’s learn to balance pleasure with benefit”, advises K. Beržinis.
Drying can be done in several ways
According to the pharmacist, those who have the opportunity should lyophilize the mushrooms – freeze-dry them. However, mushrooms are also dried in more conventional ways, which, like cucumbers, make up to 95 percent. water, retains useful substances.
True, from a couple of baskets of boletus, which will weigh about 10 kilograms, only 600 grams remain after drying. They will contain about 200 g of protein, more than 300 g of fiber. So for the needs of the latter alone, which is 40-60 g per day, this amount of dried mushrooms would only be enough for a week.
“My favorite Christmas meal is rolls with dried boletus. It is something intermediate between cooking and medicine. And dried boletus powder is an excellent seasoning for soups, broths, malts and various fillings”, the pharmacist of “Gintarinės vaistinės” shares his experience.
Fried, overturned or even raw mushrooms can be vacuum packed and stored in the freezer. It is also suitable to marinate them with vinegar, because these substances are not particularly liked by the clostridium botulinum bacterium that can live in mushrooms and causes the serious infectious disease botulism.
It is worth making powder not only from dried boletus, but also from processed squirrels. According to the pharmacist, large doses of such powder drive parasites out of the body, and after all, squirrels are rich in vitamin D, which makes worms avoid them. True, the cell walls of this spongy fungus are difficult to break down. Therefore, K. Beržinis advises to freeze them fresh, so that the ice crystals destroy the cell walls, and to cook or fry them later.
True, the pharmacist warns that if you overeat mushrooms (like other hard-to-digest food), symptoms similar to those of poisoning may appear, such as nausea, vomiting, pain in the upper abdomen, and diarrhea. However, they usually disappear within 2 to 4 hours, during which time the venom works longer or deceptively later.
Kelmučiai meatballs recipe
The pharmacist’s own family is very fond of kelmukki meatballs. In general, these mushrooms, if properly prepared and consumed as an extract or powder, improve the oxygenation of the organs. Of course, meatballs alone will not be enough for this. But the latter, as the pharmacist testified, are a real delicacy.
“After turning over, we grind the dumplings in a meat grinder, add an egg, add fried onions, carrots, semolina, salt and spices,” says K. Beržinis. – Then we form meatballs and fry them in melted butter. The heat releases the beneficial substances and the taste is great.”
2024-09-06 12:15:29