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Award-winning chef, author and forager Alan Bergo. Food is all around you.

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Turkish Saffron Milkcaps With Cumin Yoghurt

Turkish-saffron-milkcaps-with-cumin I never dreamed talking to the open air would connect me with mushroom hunters from around the world, but it did. I used to be a little self conscious talking about my hunting “habit”. It’s just that where I live in Minnesota, to the great majority of people the term “wild mushroom” refers to morels, and nothing else; if you pick something else you’re probably going to poison yourself.

The internet is fascinating in that it allows us to see what’s happening, not only in our own backyard, but in someone else’s on the other side of the planet; It’s pretty cool when you think about it. One of the first people that reached out to me was from Turkey. During late fall 2013, when the lactarius season was at it’s apex, I talked about the first saffron milkcap patch I had discovered in Minnesota.

I had thought saffron milkcaps to be a rare novelty: maybe I would see one or two, and those would be filled with bugs. A few days after I discovered a true vein of them, I put up a fun story about hunting them with some Russian Immigrants in the Twin Cities.

Almost immediately I got a message from a Turkish man espousing his love for saffron milkcaps. He said that in Turkey their words for it are “Kalinka” or “The Bloody One”, which was interesting.

Now the saffron milkcaps I find in Minnesota give a bright orange latex, and turn the same color when sliced, so they don’t really remind me of being bloody or red. I knew that another milkcap exists though, once that does give off a blood-red looking latex when cut. It’s a bit of educated speculation, but I assume the milkcaps the Turkish man was referring to were not the Lactarius delicious I was picking, but Lactarius sanguifluus, which is said to be far superior.

Feeling a little inspired, I knew I had to do some research into how these might be prepared in Turkey. Like I usually do when I am translating recipes in Italian or French, I looked to google translate, found the word mushroom in Turkish, and started to do some searches.

whole cumin seed
Toasting cumin seed
mixing cilantro into yoghurt
Mixing yoghurt
flouring saffron milkcaps
Flouring mushrooms
Turkish-saffron-milkcaps-with-cumin
Draining after frying

The Turkish recipes I came across in my culinary library and uncovered though looking around online showed that they like to finish cooking mushrooms with lemon.

I also know they rely heavily on yoghurt as a condiment, and have a fondness for using cumin seed. Most of the time it seemed like Turkish mushrooms were simply fried or sauteed, unlike their use in Basque and Catalan cuisine, where they are the stars of traditional dishes like Arroz’ a la ampurdonesa. (These are especially prized in the Iberian peninsula, depending on location they will be called these three names: rovellons-Catalan, nizcalos-Basque, or just setas/mushrooms-Spanish)

I know too that olive oil is heavily used in Turkish cuisine too, so here the mushrooms are fried in a 1/3 mix of extra virgin and flavorless oil. Contrary to popular opinion, you can cook with extra virgin olive oil, you just have to cut it with other oil that has a high smoke point to avoid scorching and burning. The flavor of cooking with mixed oil like this is great, and is a technique I learned of from my years spent cooking in Italian restaurants.

Cheers to my Turkish mushroom hunting friends, also to my Australian ones who are hunting these as we speak. If any of you guys have more fun recipes you like to add lactarius species to, send them my way; I’d love to see them.

Turkish-saffron-milkcaps-with-cumin

Turkish Saffron Milk Caps with Cumin Yoghurt

Serves 4 as an appetizer

Ingredients

  • 1 lb fresh saffron milkcaps
  • All purpose flour, as needed for dredging
  • Ground cayenne pepper, to taste
  • 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil, preferably a middle eastern brand
  • 2/3 cup flavorless oil, such as grapeseed or canola

Method

  1. Clean the saffron milkcaps and inspect for dirt and debris, if needed, brush them clean with a towel or quickly swish under cold water to remove any foreign objects. If you wash them, allow them to drain on paper towels or cloths for ten minutes or so before frying, changing the towels as needed if they become too wet. Once the mushrooms are dry again, trim the stems, leaving about an inch before the cap, then cut them into equal sized pieces. I find if the mushrooms are very large, I like to quarter them, if they are small I leave them whole, If they are medium sized, I halve them.
  2. Begin to heat a very wide saute pan with the oil. Mix the flour with the ground cayenne to taste, then toss the saffron milkcaps in it. Gently tap excess flour off of the mushrooms and then add to the pan, making sure the mushrooms don’t touch each other, you may have to work in batches.
  3. Cook the mushrooms until golden brown and crisp, then remove to a paper towel to drain excess oil, sprinkling them with 1/4 tsp salt while they are still warm to help the salt adhere. Serve immediately with the cumin yoghurt sauce drizzled over them or on the side as a dip.

mixing cilantro into yoghurt

Cumin Yoghurt Sauce

Yield: 1/2 cup

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup greek style yoghurt
  • 1/2 teaspoon whole cumin seed
  • 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
  • 1 tsp minced fresh garlic
  • tbsp fresh chopped cilantro

Method

  1. Toast the cumin seed in a pan in the oven for 5 minutes at 350. Grind the seeds to a powder using a molcajete or a coffee grinder.
  2. Mix the ground cumin, fresh lemon, cilantro, salt, and garlic to the yoghurt,  and reserve until needed.

More

Forager’s Guide to Saffron Milk Cap Mushrooms

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Dan Farmer

    April 12, 2014 at 8:02 pm

    I found a bloody milk cap several years ago. I knew it was a milk cap, but didn’t know which one, until I broke it open and saw the blood red sap. At the time, I didn’t know they were edible, and so just showed my friends and told them what it was, then tossed it. I wish I could remember where that was!

    Reply
    • Alan Bergo

      April 13, 2014 at 9:07 am

      Blast! Dan we must retrace your steps! Nice ramps too BTW, you lucky dog you.

      Reply
  2. Selim

    September 18, 2014 at 7:32 am

    Hi there,

    I am from Turkey and we looove Lactarius deliciosus, Lactarius deterrimus, Lactarius salmonicolor aka KANLICA means bloody. People doesn’t care the difference. When they see a Lactarius deterrimus they call it “Pine Bloody”. The rest is called only Bloody.
    Pine Bloody has some dark greenish/blueish areas over the top. Despite the name all of them can be found in pine forests.
    The distinctive thing for the Bloody is its orange gills. You never get wrong with orange gills.
    People are selling these mushrooms in local market right now and the actual price is 6,50 USD for 1 KG. For early growns the prices becomes 11 USD and in abundance it becomes 5 USD. So it is very expensive when you think that half of it could be infested with maggots and would be thrown away.
    Well, about the cooking, I have seen pickles, sautes, pies, rices, grills with this wonderfull mushroom. If you ask my favorite, if you have large quantity you can clean,slice and freeze it in bags and saute it just with salt and butter, be carefull not to over cook and lose the creamy water. And if you have litle amount (less then 5) you can grill it with salt. In my opinion any other ingredient will spoil the original flavour of the mushroom.
    And last if you have very large quantity and you don’t know what to do with so much of them, turkish pilaf with bloody will be excellent to feel the odor and flavour of the mushroom.

    Reply
  3. Selim Sagol

    June 4, 2018 at 1:59 am

    4 years have past and I learned so much about mushrooms and the most important thing that I have learned is that I know so little 🙂 It is a great nostalgia to see my comment here about these lovely mushrooms. After four years and 40 different mushrooms that I have tasted since then, I can still say that the Kanlica is still the top mushroom in my list.

    Reply

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FORAGER | CHEF®
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Alan Bergo
HALP! I’ve been keeping an eye on two loaded mul HALP! I’ve been keeping an eye on two loaded mulberry trees and both got a bunch of fruit knocked down by the storms and wind. 

If anyone in West WI or around the Twin Cities knows of some trees, (ideally on private property but beggars can’t be choosers) that I could climb and shake with a tarp underneath, shoot me a DM and let’s pick some! 🤙😄

TIA

#throwadogabone #mansquirrel #beattlefruit #mulberries #shakintrees
Lampascioni, or edible hyacinth bulbs are one of t Lampascioni, or edible hyacinth bulbs are one of the more interesting things I’ve eaten. 

These are an ancient wild food traditionally harvested in Southern Italy, especially in Puglia and the Salentine Peninsula, as well as Greece and Crete. I’ve seen at least 6-7 different names for them. 

A couple different species are eaten, but Leopoldia comosa is probably the one I see mentioned the most. They also grow wild in North America. 

The bulbs are toxic raw, but edible after an extended boil. Traditionally they’re preserved in vinegar and oil, pickled, or preserves in other methods using acid and served as antipasti. (Two versions in pic 3). 

They’re one of the most heavily documented traditional wild foods I’ve seen. There’s a few shots of book excerpts here.

The Oxford companion to Italian Food says you can eat them raw-don’t do that. 

Even after pickling, the bulbs are aggressively extremely bitter. Definitely an acquired taste, but one that’s grown on me. 

#traditionalfoods #vampagioli #lampascione #cucinapovera #lampascioni #leopoldiacomosa #foraging
Went to some new spots yesterday looking for poke Went to some new spots yesterday looking for poke sallet and didn’t do too well (I’m at the tip of its range). I did see some feral horseradish though which I don’t see very often. 

Just like wild parsnip, this is the exact same plant you see in the store and garden-just escaped. 

During the growing season the leaves can be good when young. 

They have an aggressive taste bitter enough to scare your loved ones. Excellent in a blend of greens cooked until extra soft, preferably with bacon or similar. 

For reference, you don’t harvest the root while the plant is growing as they’ll be soft and unappealing-do that in the spring or fall. This is essentially the same as when people tell you to harvest in months that have an R in them. 

#amoraciarusticana #foraging #horseradishleaves #horseradish #bittergreens
In Italy chicken of the woods is known as “fungo In Italy chicken of the woods is known as “fungo del carrubo” (carob tree mushroom) as it’s one of the common tree hosts there. 

My favorite, and really the only traditional recipe I’ve found for them so far is simmered in a spicy tomato sauce with hot chile and capers, served with grilled bread. 

Here I add herbs too: fresh leaves of bee balm that are perfect for harvesting right now and have a flavor similar to oregano and thyme. 

Makes a really good side dish or app, especially if you shower it with a handful of pecorino before scooping it up with the bread. 

#chickenofthewoods #fungodelcarrubo #allthemushroomtags #traditionalfoods #beebalm
First of the year 😁. White-pored chicken of t First of the year 😁. 

White-pored chicken of the woods (Laetiporus cincinnatus) are my favorite chicken. 

Superior bug resistance, slightly better flavor + texture. They also stay tender longer compared to their more common yellow-pored cousins. Not a single bug in this guy. 

#treemeat #ifoundfood #foraging #laetiporuscincinnatus #chickenofthewoods
TBT brisket face 💦. Staff meal with @jesseroes TBT brisket face 💦. Staff meal with 
@jesseroesler and crew @campwandawega
📸 @misterberndt 

#staffmeal #brisket #meatsweats #naptime
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