Fishy milkcap

How to recognise it: fishy milkcap

1. 1

   Very abundant white, MILD (not burning) milk

2. 2

   Smell of herring

3. 3

   Uniformly russet-orange, matt cap without bands

4. 4

   Gills turn brown when damaged

Description

Cap

5–15 cm, uniformly russet-orange to orange-brown, without bands; matt, velvety, often finely cracked; margin long inrolled.

Gills

Gills whitish, pale yellow with age, crowded, adnate to decurrent; turn brown (rust) when damaged.

Stem

6–12 cm, clearly paler than the cap, orange-yellowish, smooth, solid.

Flesh

Whitish, firm. At the slightest injury exudes very abundant, thick, WHITE milk which slowly turns brown in the air.

Smell and taste

A characteristic strong smell of herring (fishy), especially in older or drying fruit bodies; taste and milk mild, with a bitterish aftertaste.

Where and when it grows

Broadleaf forests (under beech, oak, hornbeam, hazel, aspen), less often coniferous; prefers clay soils, alkaline to slightly acidic. Grows singly or in small groups.

Most often with: beech, oak, hornbeam, hazel, aspen, spruce, pine

Where are conditions good today?

In the kitchen

Fried over medium heat (e.g. in butter with caraway), do not overcook until dry; avoid damaging it when picking, because it loses the milk that gives it its flavour. The herring smell disappears during cooking.

Protection and sale

• Species protection: the species is not protected.
• Sale: the species is on the list of mushrooms approved for sale (it may be sold only with a mushroom inspector’s certificate). Listed in Annex 1 as “mleczaj smaczny – Lactarius volemus”.

Where you may pick mushrooms →