How to clean and cook saffron milk caps

What is the best way to cook saffron milk caps?

Saffron milk caps are best cooked quickly in a very hot pan with a little oil, or sautéed in the traditional Turkish way. Spanish chefs quoted by Directo al Paladar say the easiest method is a well-heated griddle or pan, a little oil and a short cooking time, flavoured with garlic and herbs and finished with coarse salt. A Spanish recipe cited on Wikipedia fries them cap-down in olive oil with garlic and serves them with raw olive oil and parsley.

The saffron milk cap (Lactarius deliciosus) is a fleshy mushroom, and its flesh takes a good crust in a hot pan. The same methods apply to çıntar, melki and the bloody milk cap. The one condition before cooking is certain identification of the species; don't cook any mushroom you can't identify.

How do you clean soil and pine needles off saffron milk caps?

Clean saffron milk caps dry first, then soak them briefly in cold water if needed and dry them thoroughly at once. Because they grow under pines, soil and needles collect between the gills, so wiping alone is often not enough. A chef quoted by Directo al Paladar says soaking them in cold water removes soil from between the gills better than holding them under the tap, followed by very careful drying. Clean them just before cooking.

Cleaning is also the moment for a final check of every mushroom: are there worm holes in the cut stem base, is the milk orange, is the cap margin bare? Discard wormy mushrooms. We cover the general rules in should you wash mushrooms.

1. Trim a thin slice from the stem base to remove soil and the dried end; discard any mushroom with worm holes in the cut.
2. Scrape or brush soil and needles off the cap with the back of a knife.
3. If soil remains between the gills, soak the mushrooms in cold water for a few minutes and swirl gently.
4. Lift them out and pat them dry one by one, thoroughly, with a clean cloth or paper towel.
5. Halve or quarter large caps; leave small ones whole.

Pan-frying, sautéing, roasting: which method when?

A hot pan and a sauté are the most common methods for saffron milk caps; roasting and coated frying also work well, but boiling and steaming are not recommended. Directo al Paladar writes that cooked in water or steam the mushrooms lose flavour and texture, whereas they do very well in stews, soups and casseroles, with rice and alongside game.

The best-known Turkish preparation is kavurma: the mushrooms release and cook off their liquid, then are tossed with butter or olive oil and onion or garlic. We cover it step by step in our saffron milk cap sauté recipe. For other mushroom dishes see our recipes page.

• Griddle or pan: the easiest; very hot pan, little oil, short time; garlic and herbs, salt at the end.
• Sauté (kavurma): once the mushrooms have released and cooked off their liquid, toss with fat and onion; serve with bread or pilaf.
• Oven: at high heat, tossed in oil and spread out on a tray, until the edges brown.
• Coated frying: dredged in flour or breadcrumbs and fried in hot oil; if the oil cools, they soak it up and toughen.
• Stews, soups, rice: added later in cooking so they keep their texture.
• Not recommended: boiling and steaming; flavour and texture are lost.

Why do saffron milk caps turn green, and what happens to the milk?

The green colour is an oxidation reaction and does not mean the mushroom has spoiled. According to Wikipedia, the flesh and gills turn deep green as they are handled, while the orange milk keeps its colour in air. Directo al Paladar also notes that green stains don't indicate quality on their own; they form when the mushroom is cut and handled, though they can hint at how long ago it was picked.

Sliced saffron milk caps can therefore go green as they sit on the board; slicing them just before cooking is enough to limit it. It is also known that eating a lot of saffron milk caps can turn urine orange-red, a documented effect of the mushroom's own pigment.

Why can saffron milk caps taste bitter?

The flavour of saffron milk caps ranges from mild to slightly bitter; Wikipedia notes they may taste mild or bitter. A slight bitterness is a trait of the species and usually fades into the background in a well-browned, properly seasoned pan. Choosing fresh, young, firm mushrooms also improves the flavour.

A strong, burning bitterness is a different warning. The poisonous species most often confused with the saffron milk cap, the woolly milkcap (Lactarius torminosus), is very acrid according to First Nature, with white milk and a woolly cap margin. If you notice an unusual burning taste in a cooked dish, stop eating and question the species; if symptoms appear, call 112 and 114. We explain how to tell them apart in saffron milk cap look-alikes.

Are melki and pine mushrooms cooked the same way?

Yes. The saffron milk cap group species picked as melki, pine mushroom and çıntar are cleaned and cooked the same way. We explain which species these names refer to in çıntar vs saffron milk cap and melki and pine mushrooms.

The species do differ in flavour and texture. According to Wikipedia, Lactarius salmonicolor, which grows under fir in Bolu and is also called melki there, tastes mild and slightly acrid and turns bitter with time, so it is best cooked soon after picking. The blood-red milk of the bloody milk cap can give the pan a darker colour.

What goes well with saffron milk caps?

Simply cooked, saffron milk caps pair best with bread, rice and eggs; their flavour is distinctive enough not to need heavy sauces. Directo al Paladar writes that they go well with rice dishes and game, while bitter brassicas mute their flavour. In the Spanish recipe on Wikipedia, the finishing touch is raw olive oil and parsley.

• Bread: straight from the hot pan, with olive oil and garlic, on fresh bread.
• Rice: with plain pilaf or mushroom pilaf; the sauté goes on top.
• Eggs: an egg cracked over sautéed saffron milk caps, for breakfast.
• Herbs: parsley, thyme, spring onion; they complement without overpowering.

How do you store leftover saffron milk caps?

Fresh saffron milk caps keep for a day at most; for longer, dry or freeze them. Directo al Paladar recommends eating them within 24 hours, keeping them unwashed in an open container or paper bag in the least cold part of the fridge, and lists drying, freezing and preserving in oil or brine for longer keeping.

For freezing, Penn State Extension recommends steam-blanching mushrooms first: about 5 minutes for slices and about 9 minutes for quarters. Drying needs no blanching; the same source gives 8–10 hours in a dehydrator. To grind dried mushrooms into a seasoning, see our mushroom powder recipe.

• Fridge: unwashed, in a paper bag, one day at most.
• Freezing: clean, slice, steam-blanch, cool and freeze in an airtight container.
• Drying: clean, slice, dehydrate until dry; store in a dry, sealed jar.
• Cooked saffron milk caps: a day or two in a covered container in the fridge; reheat thoroughly.