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Saffron Milk Caps

minnesota saffron milkcaps

Saffron milkcaps, a crunchy, tasty mushroom that have been enjoyed for millenia. Supposedly milkcaps were one of the first mushrooms to be used in cooking that we have evidence of, featured in a fresco from the Roman ruins of Herculaneum.

In modern-day, the saffron milkcap is pretty much the national mushroom of Spain, where it’s known as the “rovellon”, or in other regions as the “niscalo”. Doing an internet search for rovellons will turn up lot of fun information and recipes.

Fresco From Herculaneaum

Fresco From Herculaneaum

At first I thought they probably don’t grow in the areas I hunt in the Midwest, and It took me a long time to finally find a nice patch. I searched every year and could only come up with one or two, here and there. Finally in the fall of 2013 I hit a great spot in a white pine forest at just the right time. They are great mushrooms, and have a nice crunchy texture, if you can get to them before the bugs do that is.

saffron milkcaps and look a likes

Left to right: Lactarius deterrimus, and real saffron milkcaps.

Habitat

I find them fruiting under Eastern White Pine at the same time as the chicken fat bolete in Minnesota around August through October. The key to finding them is waiting for the rain during their season. It seems like Saffron milkcaps, more than some other mushrooms I’ve hunted need lots of rain to come out in force.

Keep an eye on a rain gauge or a precipitation website, half an inch to an inch in a day or two should be good, from my experience. Also, these often grow completely buried deep under pine needles, you will need an eye to find them, just remember where you see one, more are close by.

Cooking

These make great pickles and retain a bit of their crunch. They can also be stewed and frozen, but pickling is my favorite method of preservation. You can dry these too to make stock  or broth, it will taste a bit like chicken stock, it’s very good.

I can sometimes just brush the leaves and needles from these and saute, if they are dirty I will wash each one quickly by swishing in some water, then allow then to drain on paper towels until needed in the fridge.

Saffron milkcaps cook up similarly to most mushrooms I know of, but there are a few interesting things I know about them. Some species of Lactarius give off a sort of mucilage when pickled or stewed, it can function as a sort of natural thickener in sauces and gravies. If the mushrooms are pickled, they can be a bit slimy when removed. To reduce the mucilage they give off in a pickle, you can blanch the mushrooms in salted water before you pack them in jars with the pickling liquid.

Look a Likes

To me there’s pretty much only one, and it won’t hurt you from my experience,  it’s known as Lactarius deterrimus. I suspected it growing in my patches and singled a few out out a while back, it seems to have a more grey colored cap and gills that are a less bright orange. They finished with a slightly bitter note when I ate them.

Recipes

Recipes I’ve created specifically for Saffron Milkcaps, or where they can easily be substituted

  • Catalan Saffron Milkcaps
  • Wild Mushroom Conserve
  • Wild Mushroom Duxelles
  • Pickled Milkcaps
  • Milkcaps Preserved In “Holy Oil”
  • Turkish Saffron Milkcaps With Cumin Yoghurt
  • Fricando Of Veal With Saffron Milk Caps
  • Wild Mushrooms With Garlic And Parsley
  • Stinging Nettle Tortelli In Lactarius Broth

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Comments

  1. andrasz

    November 20, 2020 at 11:19 am

    On the comparison photo those of the right look suspiciously Lactarius semisanguifluus rather than L. deliciosus. The two are very much alike, but the sap of the former turns wine-red after a few minutes. The sap of L. deliciosus also darkens, but not so fast, and not to such a ruby red. Also the caps of the former have a greenish hue, sometimes distinctly green, even on young ones, whereas L. deliciosus is more orangey-brownish. The gills of both turn green on damage, but those of the former much more intensely. For culinary purposes L. semisanguifluus is equivalent to L. sanguifluus, practically on par with L. deliciosus, so my comment is purely academic 🙂

    Reply
    • Alan Bergo

      November 20, 2020 at 12:10 pm

      Hey thanks so much for pointing that out. I wasn’t aware of those. That’s entirely possible, I’ll look through my archive images and see if I can’t update that.

      Reply
  2. marc

    July 29, 2015 at 3:44 pm

    THE FALSE ONES MAY BE BITTER, BUT NOT “POISONOUS”, AS IN RAT-POISON, DEAD. BUT DO THROW OUT THE FALSE ONES.

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Forager|Chef – The Goldstalk Bolete: Boletus Ornatipes says:
    August 14, 2013 at 11:46 am

    […] but I don’t really find any worth eating besides lobster mushrooms, lactarius indigo, and lactarius deliciosus, and they are rather rare; with the exception of lobsters. Boletes though? Oh the possibilities! […]

    Reply
  2. Forager|Chef – Fricando Of Veal, With Saffron Milk Caps says:
    October 16, 2013 at 12:13 pm

    […] ok, the specimens I had were not the greatest though, and now that I am aware of the look alike (L. Deterrimus) most likely the lack of flavor was due to them being false saffron milk caps. It wasn’t until […]

    Reply
  3. lactarius salmoneus says:
    March 9, 2014 at 9:21 am

    […] the saffron milkcap which I had found one or two of before. (See an informational post on them here) I was overjoyed, lactarius are one of  the first mushrooms depicted in European art, in an […]

    Reply
  4. stinging nettle tortelli with lactarius mushroom broth recipe says:
    March 10, 2014 at 8:28 am

    […] with lactarius species unless you catch them really young. See some pictures of perfect ones here. Worry not though, milkcaps have a hollow stem, and dry very easily after a little time in the […]

    Reply
  5. Hunting Saffron Milkcaps in Minnesota says:
    April 17, 2014 at 11:02 am

    […] orange. Curious. Most likely I know this to be the saffron milk cap imposter, Lacatarius deterrimus (See a pic here). If the imposters are fruiting, then I knew the real thing might be lurking nearby, since they […]

    Reply
  6. Collecting Mushroom for Anthotypes - Part I - Gavin Lyons Photography says:
    August 19, 2019 at 4:02 am

    […] https://foragerchef.com/painted-on-the-stones-saffron-milk-caps/ […]

    Reply
  7. The Health Benefits of Mushrooms - Body By Bernard says:
    May 22, 2020 at 10:45 am

    […] Great for: yogurts, broths, veal oils, and prepared pickled style […]

    Reply
  8. Season of Mushrooms in Belarus - Thephotostory.info - Hunt For the Best! says:
    September 4, 2020 at 7:24 am

    […] Learn more information and recipes for the Saffron Milk Cap mushroom […]

    Reply

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