Saddleback fungi from Mizhhirya district – mushroom hunting season in Transcarpathia has started (PHOTOS)

On his page on Facebook, Transcarpathian food blogger Fedir Shandor wrote about the mushrooms, which have appeared in Mizhhirya district – Polyporus squamosus or saddleback fungi.

– In official medicine, the saddleback fungus is used in drug bases. The medicines made of the fungus provide an excellent therapeutic effect aimed at restoring parts of the body that have suffered intoxication by poisonous substances. Those can be simple poisons or heavy metals like mercury and even gases like sarin. The medicinal properties of the saddleback fingus are applied in folk medicine. There are recipes for dry anti-inflammatory extracts and ointments that inhibit the growth of pathogenic fungi that develop on human skin and under the nails.

Polyporus squamosus is a conditionally edible mushroom. That is, it is edible only when harvested in the spring when its flesh is soft. Later, the flesh becomes hard like old cork, crumbles easily and loses its flavor. Delicious and varied dishes can be made with the mushroom. There are recipes that allow to fry, pickle, and dry it, make pies with it, add it to soups as a condiment and much more.