Salted milk-cap mushrooms, slippery and pungent, served with sour cream and onion. The caps are soaked to draw out their bitterness and then salted in barrels, in a Russian forest-and-cellar tradition that runs centuries deep.
The soaking is a detoxification step, not a flavouring one: Lactarius species eaten under-processed cause severe gastroenteritis, and several closely similar milk caps in the same forest are more toxic still.
What goes into it
- milk caps — Lactarius species
- coarse salt, in quantity
- dill, blackcurrant leaf, horseradish and garlic
How it is made
The caps are soaked in changes of cold water for two to three days, which draws out the acrid white latex that makes them inedible raw. They are then layered with heavy salt and aromatics in a barrel or crock, weighted under a board, and left in a cold cellar for at least forty days while they release brine and ferment slowly.
How long it takes: two to three days of soaking, then 40 days minimum in the crock
How it is eaten
Rinsed, dressed with sour cream, onion and oil, and eaten with vodka and black bread.
History
Milk caps are soaked to draw out bitterness, then salted in barrels; Russian forest foraging and salting traditions run centuries deep.
Frequently asked questions
What is Solyonye gruzdi?
Solyonye gruzdi is a fermented & pickled from Russia: salted milk-cap mushrooms, slippery and pungent, served with sour cream. Milk caps are soaked to draw out bitterness, then salted in barrels; Russian forest foraging and salting traditions run centuries deep.
How is Solyonye gruzdi made?
The caps are soaked in changes of cold water for two to three days, which draws out the acrid white latex that makes them inedible raw. They are then layered with heavy salt and aromatics in a barrel or crock, weighted under a board, and left in a cold cellar for at least forty days while they release brine and ferment slowly. It takes two to three days of soaking, then 40 days minimum in the crock.
Can I make Solyonye gruzdi at home?
No, and the atlas gives no method for it. The soaking is a detoxification step, not a flavouring one: Lactarius species eaten under-processed cause severe gastroenteritis, and several closely similar milk caps in the same forest are more toxic still.
What goes into Solyonye gruzdi?
Milk caps — Lactarius species, coarse salt, in quantity, dill, blackcurrant leaf, horseradish and garlic.
How is Solyonye gruzdi eaten?
Rinsed, dressed with sour cream, onion and oil, and eaten with vodka and black bread.
