Mushrooms have long been a fairly popular food product with high gastronomic value. In addition to the traditional, familiar representatives of the mushroom kingdom, there are also quite exotic ones that have an unusual appearance, for example, deer horns, looking at which you can’t immediately understand that these are mushrooms.

Biological description

deer horns(golden ramaria, yellow ramaria), belonging to the gomfaceae family, have a rather specific and beautiful tree-like shape, really resembling branched antlers or a bizarre sea coral. Apparently for this in the people they are also called horned mushrooms or coral mushrooms. Their body consists of dense, thickened matte twigs with forked tips and small, brittle spines. They are attached to the substrate with a dense and short leg. white color narrowed to the bottom. Its height ranges from 2 to 10 cm, and its diameter is from 5 to 10 cm.


The outer surface of young specimens may have a beige, milky or yellow color of various shades, while in old specimens it changes to bright orange. Initially, the growth of mushrooms goes, as a rule, vertically, and over time they begin to bush, their branches break up and fall somewhat. Their the size can reach twenty centimeters in diameter and the same in height, and the weight of three kilograms.

But at the same time it is recommended to collect small, young mushrooms that have a pleasant taste and sweetish aroma, as well as tender, dense, fragile white flesh, which becomes brown in color when cut or broken. Old and large specimens become bitter, tough and completely unsuitable for eating. The bitterness of them does not go away either in the process of soaking, or during cooking and further processing.


Location

On the territory of our country, deer horns are most often found on Far East, in Western and Eastern Siberia, the foothills of the Caucasus, as well as in Karelia. They can be found in both deciduous and coniferous forests, especially pine. They grow on rotten stumps, trees, less often on soil covered with various types moss. But it is believed that the most delicious are specimens found in moist, shady places in oak, aspen and birch groves.

Although deer horns are considered rare mushrooms, and even listed in the Red Book, sometimes you can find places where they grow. large groups in a row or in a circle. Their collection is usually carried out from mid-summer to early winter, depending on the region of growth. In places with very warm climate they are found even in winter. What's interesting is that this species mushrooms are not damaged by worms.

Reindeer horns: collecting (video)

Cooking methods

Despite the fact that deer horns are classified as category 4 mushrooms due to their characteristic bitterness during growth, they are quite tasty when young and can be cooked in the same way as most other edible mushrooms.

Immediately after collection, they are divided into small parts, washed, boiled and a wide variety of dishes are prepared: fried, stewed, added to soups and salads. They are also used to make sauces, fillings for pies, dumplings and various blanks for the winter (salting, pickling, freezing). Cooked reindeer horns resemble the taste of chicken or shrimp. For example, for starters, you can cook those completely simple dishes, the recipes of which are given below.

mushroom salad

Ingredients:

  • deer horns (boiled) - 200 grams;
  • carrots - 200 grams;
  • bulb of medium size;
  • - 2 teeth;
  • apple cider vinegar - 2 tablespoons;
  • vegetable oil - 1 tablespoon;
  • salt, black pepper, herbs.


Cooking method:

  1. Combine chopped mushrooms with carrots, cut into thin strips, chopped garlic, add salt, pepper, half the norm of vinegar to them, vegetable oil and let it sit for about half an hour.
  2. Cut the onion into half rings and marinate in the remaining vinegar.
  3. Mix mushrooms with onions and chopped herbs.

Reindeer horn soup

Ingredients:

  • deer horns - 500 grams;
  • water - 3 liters;
  • carrots - 200 grams;
  • potatoes - 500 grams;
  • onion - 100 grams;
  • green pea(canned) - 200 grams;
  • garlic - 3 teeth;
  • butter - 100 grams;
  • cheese - 100 grams;
  • salt, black pepper, herbs.


Cooking method:

  1. Boil the mushrooms for half an hour, cool and divide into small strips.
  2. Cut potatoes, carrots and onions into small cubes, put in boiling water and cook until tender.
  3. Add mushrooms, green peas, salt and pepper to the boiled vegetables and leave the soup to simmer for another fifteen minutes.
  4. IN ready meal put the cheese, grated on a fine grater, butter and greens. Before serving, you can add sour cream or cream to the soup.

Precautionary measures

You should be aware that there are quite a few a large number of mushrooms that look like deer horns. Many of them are inedible or even poisonous. Therefore, beginners need to start collecting them under the guidance of experienced mushroom pickers.

Also they should be well washed and processed, especially those that are harvested for future use, because even edible mushrooms can be a serious hazard if not properly prepared and stored. In addition, you should not collect them along roads and in other polluted places where they accumulate a large amount of toxic substances.

How to cook deer horns (video)

As you can see, deer horns are not only an exotic decoration of the forest, but also an excellent product that will allow you to cook many interesting and delicious meals, both for everyday menu and for holiday table. And for those for whom mushroom hunting» is a hobby or outdoor activities, their search and collection will be a real pleasure.

Systematics:
  • Division: Basidiomycota (Basidiomycetes)
  • Subdivision: Agaricomycotina (Agaricomycetes)
  • Class: Agaricomycetes (Agaricomycetes)
  • Subclass: Phallomycetidae (Velkovye)
  • Order: Gomphales
  • Family: Gomphaceae (Gomphaceae)
  • Genus: Ramaria (Ramaria)
  • View: Ramaria flava (Deer horns)
    Other names for mushroom:

Other names:

  • yellow horn

  • bear paw

  • deer horns

  • coral yellow

Description

The fruit body of Ramaria yellow reaches a height of 15-20 cm, a diameter of 10-15 cm. Numerous branched dense bushy branches that have a cylindrical shape grow from a thick white "stump". Often they have two blunt tops and incorrectly truncated ends. The fruit body has all shades of yellow. Under the branches and near the "stump" the color is sulfur-yellow. When pressed, the color changes to wine-brown. The flesh is moist, off-white, in the "stump" - marble, color does not change. Outside, the base is white, with a yellowish tinge and reddish spots of various sizes, most of which are found in fruiting bodies growing under coniferous trees. The smell is pleasant, slightly grassy, ​​the taste is weak. Tops of old mushrooms are bitter.

Spore powder is ocher-yellow.

Habitat and growth time

Deer horns grows on the ground in deciduous, coniferous and mixed forests in August - September, in groups and singly. Especially abundant in the forests of Karelia. It is found in the mountains of the Caucasus, as well as in the countries of Central Europe.

Doubles

Antlers mushroom is very similar to golden yellow coral, the differences are visible only under a microscope, as well as to Ramaria aurea, which is also edible and has the same properties. IN early age similar in appearance and color to Ramaria obtusissima, Ramaria flavobrunnescens is smaller.

Note

The word flava in the mushroom's name means "yellow". Coral fungi are considered basidiomycetes. They form spores on the fruit layer, on the outside of the "knots", everywhere. For the most part, corals are good, but poisonous ones are also found among them.

This ramaria is considered an edible mushroom, but certain precautions must be taken when eating it. First of all, only young specimens should be collected and the base should be used, as the branches are bitter. Mature mushrooms are not edible at all due to bitterness.

These strange mushrooms in Primorsky Krai are no less popular than "ordinary" mushrooms. There are practically no deer horns poisonous mushrooms, although a number of not tasty and not quite edible mushrooms are represented quite widely. Find bright in the forest beautiful mushrooms- Deer antlers or as they are also called Coral mushrooms are quite simple. Like most tree fungi, antlers prefer rotten wood. fallen trees. By the names it is easy to guess on the wood of which tree this or that mushroom grows.

Although deer horns palatability approaching the most tasty mushrooms, they are not cultivated, growing in artificial conditions mushrooms are less demanding and more productive.
In the forest, on fallen trees, you can easily pick up bags of mushrooms in a matter of minutes. Deer horns form whole clusters on the trunks, and the ease of collection makes harvesting these mushrooms a pleasure. .

There is a widespread opinion that these mushrooms are not suitable for classical cooking and the recipes for preparing these mushrooms are complex and not varied. This is fundamentally not true. The author believes deer horns the most convenient mushroom for harvesting and cooking.
You can easily get acquainted with my recipes by clicking on the link, right under the description of the mushroom.

Mushrooms bear fruit deer horns already from the middle of summer, but it has been noticed that it is in the fall that these mushrooms acquire a truly magnificent taste. I personally like deer horns grown. on fallen old oak trunks, these mushrooms have a pleasant sweetish aftertaste and do not deteriorate for a long time during transportation. Mushrooms grown on linden or poplar are more juicy and fleshy, and deer horns growing on rotting wood of pines and cedars are much less tasty, they are not considered medicinal mushrooms and are used in traditional traditional medicine as a remedy for worms, hypochondria, and even in rheumatic diseases of the joints.

Although it is difficult to make a mistake in picking antler mushrooms, always be careful! Most cases of mushroom poisoning occur due to illiteracy and negligence, when an inexperienced mushroom picker mistakes a poisonous mushroom for an edible one. Sometimes poisoning occurs with ready-made salted, pickled or canned edible mushrooms due to improper preparation or storage. It should be remembered that some edible mushrooms consumed raw (or undersalted or undercooked) can also cause mild poisoning. We should not forget that some people have an individual intolerance to mushrooms.

By the end of summer and in the first month of autumn, deer horns or yellow horn mushrooms grow in domestic forests with highly branched fruiting bodies that look like corals. It is quite edible certain rules collection and processing.

Deer horns (Ramaria flava), a branchy yellowish conditionally edible mushroom, also has the names bear's foot and coral yellow.

It is characterized by the following distinguishing features:

  • the total height of the fruiting body reaches 20 cm, the maximum diameter is also 20 cm. The color, initially creamy, yellowish, lemon or sulfur yellow, eventually becomes ocher to orange. Flattened "branches" repeatedly split in a U- or V-shape, have equal length, somewhat blunt ends;
  • the stem grows up to 8 cm long and 5 cm thick. It is painted in shades of yellow characteristic of the whole fungus, brightens towards the base. In places of pressure it becomes reddish-brown;
  • spores are pale ocher, formed on the outer surface of the fruiting body;
  • the fragile pulp of a watery consistency is light, yellowish, with a slight pleasant smell. As it matures, it becomes bitter, especially in the "twigs".

Distribution and fruiting period

Deer horn mushrooms grow in the zone temperate climate. They settle on the soil in coniferous forests, deciduous groves and mixed forests. branching fruit bodies grow singly and in small groups in August-September.

Similar species

Deer horns have a significant similarity with the mushroom, other yellowish horns:

  • inedible blunt (Ramaria obtusissima), having rounded ends of the "twigs" and a bitter taste. It is found in Siberian mixed forests with the presence of fir and Far Eastern oak forests;
  • conditionally edible yellow-brown (Ramaria flavobrunnescens), the height of which does not exceed 10 cm. With age, brown spots appear on the mushrooms of this species;
  • conditionally edible golden (Ramaria aurea), painted in a brighter ocher-yellow color, brighter towards the base;
  • conditionally edible golden yellow (Ramaria lutea), smaller (up to 15 cm in height), found in Primorsky Krai.

In addition, the inedible sticky calocera (Calocera viscosa), which grows on stumps and deadwood, is often confused with deer horns. This mushroom has a bright egg-yellow color and dense gelatinous flesh.

Primary processing and preparation

Yellow Horn refers to conditionally edible mushrooms, has 4 taste categories. Since the yellow hornbeam develops a bitter taste with age, only young fruiting bodies should be collected.

To ensure the absence of bitterness, deer horns are pre-boiled for 15-20 minutes, draining the broth, or the ends of the branches are removed. Forest "corals" treated in this way can be cooked, like other edible mushrooms - boiled until fully cooked, fried and stewed. Some lovers of mushroom exotic pickle and salt them.

Abundantly branching "bushes" of conditionally edible deer horns attract attention with their extraordinary appearance. Properly harvested and cooked young mushrooms have a taste reminiscent of lean meats.

Deer horn mushrooms amaze with their unusual appearance. They grow on trees and resemble either deer antlers or corals. From them you can cook dishes for every taste. The main thing is to collect them with care, because there are inedible and poisonous mushrooms that look similar.

Deer horn mushrooms grow on trees

  • Servings: 3
  • Preparation time: 30 minutes
  • Cooking time: 40 minutes

How to cook a deer horn mushroom appetizer

Light mushroom salad for a snack - great start celebratory dinner. It is especially interesting if such a salad is not made from the usual chanterelles or champignons, but from rare and unusual mushrooms.

Before preparing the salad, boil the antlers in salted water until tender. This will take no more than 30 minutes. Then follow the instructions:

  1. Cut the mushrooms into small pieces, chop the carrots into small strips, chop the garlic. Mix these ingredients. Add salt, pepper, vegetable oil and half the vinegar to them. Let it brew for 30 minutes.
  2. Cut the onion into thin half rings, fill it with the remaining vinegar and let it marinate to remove excess bitterness.
  3. Mix salad with onions.

Garnish the salad with sprigs of greens or sprinkle it with chopped herbs.

Soup with deer horns mushrooms

Mushroom soup – good decision for everyday lunch. If you find antlers on the trees in the forest, add them to the first dish. It will turn out tasty and fragrant. You will need:

  • 0.5 kg deer horns;
  • 3 liters of water;
  • 200 g carrots;
  • 0.5 kg of potatoes;
  • 100 g onion;
  • 200 g green canned or fresh peas;
  • 3 cloves of garlic;
  • 100 g butter;
  • 100 g hard cheese any kind;
  • salt, herbs, black pepper to your taste.

How to cook soup:

  1. Put the mushrooms in boiling salted water and cook for 30 minutes. Throw them in a colander, cool slightly and divide into thin strips.
  2. Cut potatoes, onions, carrots into small cubes. Boil water, salt it, dip vegetables in it and cook them until tender.
  3. Add mushrooms to the pot and green peas. Pepper the soup and add salt if necessary. Reduce heat to low and simmer soup for 15 more minutes.
  4. Cheese grate on a fine grater. Take the pan off the heat and add the cheese, butter, chopped dill or parsley.

Before serving, you can add a little sour cream or cream to each serving, if desired. This will only enhance the taste of the first dish.

Add your favorite ingredients to the described soup and salad, do not be afraid to experiment. Reindeer horns go well with many other foods.