I found a potentially edible milkcap of some kind for this #fungifriday
These things are huge and orange and were in pristine condition.
My daughter instantly grabbed one along with a questionable LBM. Eventually she threw the LBMs down and focused on the larger orange milk cap.
In my mind I was thinking finally I have found the perfect edible Saffron Milk Cap aka Lactarius deliciosus.
But on closer examination the gills seem a bit too light. Saffron milk caps have the same orange in the gills and these ones are nearly white.
At least I know it is a milk cap, when you slice the gills they immediately bleed a milk like substance.
Now I am thinking these might be Tawny Milk Caps due to its more symmetrical solid orange cap color. Saffrons tend to have a few rings and are a bit less symmetrical.
I've read that Tawny Milkcaps stink like fish and some guides say they are not edible and will cause stomach upset in some people. But these ones smelled great.
I took a taste test and they weren't spicy either which also points to potential edibility. Many milk cap species are edible but are super spicy, so much so that you wouldn't want to eat it.
For now I'm going with these as maybe fresh Tawny Milk Caps aka Lactifluus volemus before they start to stink like fish. They can be found in Asian markets sometimes but I didn't want to take a chance on them just yet even though they were in perfect harvesting condition.
That's all for now, more mushroom soon El Nino is really bringing them out this year.
