A simple soup made with fresh slippery jack mushrooms, cabbage and meat stock is one of the best things I've made with fresh Suillus, a mushroom plenty of foragers avoid.
I have come across Russians picking slippery jacks in a particular local park I frequent. The first time I saw them there, it was groups of old Russian Grandmas out picking chicken fat boletes.
The next time it was a group of elderly Russian ladies and men who split into two different groups, the men lazily picking and drinking vodka, the woman speaking with the sharp tones and inquisitive sounds I associate with gossiping. The last encounter I had with the Russian mushroom pickers ended up being me and an old Russian guy, neither of us able to speak the other one's language.
On my way to where the saffron milk caps grow I noticed a multitude of other mushrooms that I had yet to identify. They had black caps with a grey stem, and I suspected they could possibly be Russula xyanoxantha, a prized edible called “The charcoal burner”. I picked a couple of them and some other small milkcaps I suspected to be Lactarius volemus, hoping if I keyed them out later in the field guides I could uncover some interesting information, and potentially a new species to experiment with. I moved on to the saffron milkcap patch, it was pretty much a ghost town as I had hit it pretty hard the last time I was there, bringing some friends from work with the hope they could help me fully uncover more space in the patch.
Finding the milkcap patch near empty, I started back on the trail to the car. As I walked to the car I heard a rustling in the pine trees; someone was picking mushrooms. I always feel the need to spy on others who participate in one of my favorite hobbies, that day, it was a Russian Gentleman. He was much older than me, I’d say around 65-70. His clothes were dark, he was wearing a jacket I would imagine a janitor would wear, dark blue, faded and ripped in places with age. I was curious to find out what he was picking, so I waded through some pine needles and approached him. I announced:
Me: “Picking some slippery jacks?”
Old Russian Man: .............silence.........
The old man just stood there and looked at me, I couldn’t tell if he was angry or what. Then after he spoke I realized he knew no English, as in zero, nada, zilch. I motioned for him to show me what was in the large cloth bag he was carrying. He opened it up and let me see his score for the day. His bag was large, way bigger than a paper grocery bag, and it was filled with slippery jacks and another mushroom that looked like the suspect charcoal burners I had taken with to try and identify.
Curious to see if we had been picking the same mushrooms, I took one of the black mushrooms I picked out of my bag and showed it to him. I watched his face transform into a look of horror. “NO!” he shouted. He then reached for my bag and proceeded to inspect it thoroughly. The old man knelt down and went through every single mushroom in my bag. He knew no English, but he did know the words “yes” and “no”, so that is how we communicated. If he said no, he would fling the mushroom back into the woods, If he said yes, he would put it on the ground in a little “keeper” pile.
Eventually he came across a couple of perfect buttons of Suillus luteus that I had picked and he held them up to me and said “YES”, in a tone with which one might scold a child. After he had sorted through my entire bag, he just turned around and walked off to the next tree, and continued about his business.
It really struck me later that I had been part of a caveman conversation. Maybe caveman sounds too primitive, another description might be a "trancendent linguistic experience"? Anyway we talked without using words, and it was pretty cool. Even though he didn’t know me or speak my language, he showed empathy for me, and wanted to make sure I didn’t poison myself. I liked that, and later in the day I found myself wondering what he would be making back home with his mushrooms. Not only is cooking often therapeutic and relaxes me, but it is also is a medium through which I can explore other cultures. I wanted to know what the old man cooked, and I wanted to make it too.
I can guess that he had meager means, his clothes were ripped and old, and he smelled like a straight up hobo. There would be no fancy ingredients or meat in the dish. Soup is and always has been the ultimate poor people food, put some stuff in a pot, put some water on it and cook it, that’s it. Another classic poor person food I know of also makes a great soup…cabbage. (Historically cabbage was the great sustainer of life in most of Europe, the potato took over eventually but was brought from the new world) I needed to make slippery jack and cabbage soup.
My little soup is something that I would imagine the old Russian mushroom hunter might make,although it's probably nothing close to anything traditional. I will probably never see him again, and he will never read this, but I think he'd like it.
Slippery Jack-Cabbage Soup
Equipment
- 1 3 quart soup pot
Ingredients
- 6 cups water
- 1 cup great northern beans soaked overnight in water
- ¼ cup each carrot onion and celery chopped and pureed for a couple minutes in a food processor until very fine and uniform
- ⅓ cup cracked wheat barley, polenta or traditional Russian Kasha-buckwheat groats
- 4 cups fresh slippery jack mushrooms caps peeled, sliced in half, and then sliced into ½ inch slices, stems sliced into ½ inch coins
- 4 cups savoy or green cabbage diced into small ½ inch squares
- Salt and pepper
- 1 fresh or dried bay leaf
- ¼ cup sour cream vegans omit this, maybe garnish with a glug or two of nice olive oil instead
- ¼ cup vodka
- Black pepper and fresh green onions to garnish
- Lard, flavorless cooking oil, or olive oil as needed for sweating the mushrooms
Instructions
- Soak the beans in water overnight.
- Begin by cooking the slippery jacks in a couple tablespoons of flavorless oil such as grapeseed or canola in a small pasta or stock pot. A 4 qt pot will have plenty of room.
- Cook the slippery jacks in the oil until they give up their water and it evaporates and begins to color on the bottom of the pan. When the water has evaporated, season the mushrooms with ¼ teaspoon or so of salt.
- Cook the mushrooms for a moment more and then add the pureed carrot, onion and celery and cook until the vegetable puree has released it's water and the pan is nearly dry.
- Next add the cabbage, 5 cups of water, the bay leaf, beans and the cracked wheat to the pot. Bring the mixture to a simmer, turn the heat to low, cover and cook for 45 minutes or until the cracked wheat and beans are cooked and soft. Season the soup to taste with salt and reserve.
- While the soup is simmering, put the vodka in a small sauce pan and Ignite with a lighter or match, then turn the heat off. When the flames die out the alcohol has evaporated and the vodka is ready to add to your sour cream, you should be left with a tablespoon or so.
- Mix the remaining vodka into the sour cream and season with a pinch of salt. Set the vodka sour cream aside until ready to plate. Double check the seasoning of the soup again, and adjust as needed.
- When you wish to serve the soup, ladle equal portions of the soup into small, warmed bowls, top with a dollop of sour cream, sliced green onions, fresh grinds of black pepper and serve.
Dan
What a great story! He showed empathy by inspecting your finds, and you returned it by cooking his meal. Poetry.
Alan Bergo
Yeah, I would die to know how the old guy was really going to cook them. I know some of the Russian families that pick around these parts do speak English, so I'm going to make a point of asking them how they liked them. It was definitely a fun moment. Glad you enjoyed it!
Elena
Alan, I'm Russian, I live in the US (Wisconsin) and speak English 🙂
As far as I know, Russians mostly pickle really small and young Slippery Jacks (called maslyonok in Russian - roughly translated as buttery mushroom). As for the older larger specimens, they usually go into "mushrooms fried with potatoes" dish. Slippery Jack soup is not typical, but I made it couple of times.
I've never heard of mushroom soup made with cabbage, but you know, it's a huge country, so there are some regional differences. Russian style mushroom soup is usually made with freshly picked mushrooms, some potatoes and noodles or grains like wheat, buckwheat, or rice . Some add sauteed onion and/or carrots.
"Shchi" - a traditional cabbage (fresh or fermented) soup that can be made with either meat or mushroom broth, but they use mostly dried mushrooms, not fresh.
Alan Bergo
Hi Elena, this is some great information. I hope you can understand my little bit of "poetic license" on the soup. you have some seriously great Russian cooking tips for slippery jacks though, I may have to try some out, If I do I'll give you a shout out. Thanks for your interest. Happy hunting over in Wisco.
Vladimir Loparev
Well, I am Russian and have corrections.
Classical mushroom soup need barley and this kind of mushroom is poor substitute for king boletus, which is usual component of the meal.
Maslyata are used with marinade - and you can prepare it to celebrate Old Russian New Year (if you know what it is :)).
Alan Bergo
Thanks for the input Vladimir, when I made this, the idea of using creative license was the focus of the recipe, and the sentiment of trying to envision what the old man would make. It was not supposed to be traditional in a technical sense, but thanks very much for the advise on marinating slippery jacks, I'm definitely going to try that next year.
Veeka Trofimova
I'm also Russian and I enjoyed the creative license you took with arranging our traditional ingredients into something of your own. Thanks!
Leanna
My husband brought home a sackful of slippery jack mushrooms, so I googled "slippery jack mushroom recipes" and came across this charming story and recipe. I followed it, as written and learned a lot about allowing mushrooms to give up their water. It was fun to make--especially setting the vodka on fire--and absolutely delicious. The soup was surprisingly sweet, so the green olives were a great topping.