Quick! Pine Mushrooms

A short walk along the hills surrounding the Yarra River has provided another seasonal gift.
Pine mushrooms or Lactaria deliciosa  are found beneath - well pine trees. Thankfully they are found commonly under the most common pine tree - Pinus radiata. This is the pine most commonly used in plantations in Southern Australia.  They can be seen in the photo above center left and dark green.

Pine Mushroom.

A small reminder that it was pine mushroom season was a couple of old fellas fossicking around some pines on the Warby hwy about 2 weeks ago.
Pine mushrooms are upwardly concave when mature, pale orange to pink on top and bright orange when cut open. The gills may be stained with bluish bruises, especially if they are older specimens.

I think the old fellas were right on time because many of the fruit i saw were past it but i still gathered quite a few kilos of reasonable mushrooms in a very short time.

notice bluish staining on gills

Note that i am not writing a guide to the identification of these mushrooms. Go for a walk with someone who knows these critters or take a specimen to someone who knows what they are.

They cook up well and keep their shape better than a field mushroom. Stephanie Alexander even has some resipes in the "Cooks companion". The flavour is not as intense as a ripe field mushroom and they are very good done with garlic and butter!

I couldn't resist preserving some under oil