Saffron Milk Cap Mushroom Season – That’s November In Fethiye

These days, even at the local markets around Turkey, it’s possible to eat some fruits and vegetables year-round without having to worry about them going out of season.

Yes, some months will be more bountiful than others and prices will fluctuate occasionally. But those foods are the staples of our kitchen and we always know they will be on a market stall somewhere in Fethiye.

Seasonal Saffron Milk Cap Mushroom Time

Mercifully, though, there are always edibles which are completely seasonal.

Those foods that appear for only one or two months each year and we get excited about their arrival.

We buy them up in bulk when they do finally appear. And then try to come up with recipes to make the most of the bounty.

November is a fabulous month for seasonal food in Fethiye. And one of these foods grows in the wild; the Saffron Milk Cap Mushroom.

The Saffron Milk Cap Mushroom – Lactarius Deliciosus

The Saffron Milk Cap Mushroom is also known as the Red Pine Mushroom.

If you’re in Turkey, they are called çıntar in the south. Head northwards and you’re more likely to see them named as kanlıca.

As Fethiye market was the first place we’d ever come across Saffron Milk Cap Mushrooms, way back when, we only knew them as çıntar and had no idea what they were or what to do with them.

But, we knew we were excited by them.

So, all those years ago, when we first moved to Fethiye, we bought ourselves half a kilo of this mysterious fungi and took ourselves off home to do a bit of research.

It was quite a feeling of satisfaction when when we realised what we’d bought. Especially when we saw the prices they fetch in the UK.

Where Does The Saffron Milk Cap Mushroom Grow?

The Saffron Milk Cap Mushroom’s other common name, the Red Pine Mushroom, gives the game away a tad.

These meaty mushrooms grow in pine forests and those of you in the know about Fethiye will know this area has no shortage of those!

Moving Shadows

At this time of year, if you’re driving along pine-clad roads, keep your eye out for moving shadows in the trees. That’ll be locals foraging for Saffron Milk Caps.

But the Saffron Milk Cap season isn’t guaranteed.

Abundance

Some years, you can walk around the markets of Fethiye and see stall after stall with boxes and baskets packed with carefully placed mushrooms (the Saffron Milk Cap Mushroom easily bruises).

During these times, prices for the Saffron Milk Cap are very favourable and it means there’s been a good Autumn downpour or two.

And Scarcity

Other years, we know it’s November and we know the Saffron Milk Cap Mushroom should be on the markets.

But we can walk and wander and scan around carefully. And you might see just one guy selling a few from a box.

That’s when you know the rain has been scarce and the price for the Saffron Milk Cap mushrooms can double.

At times like this, the village market on Fridays is your best bet for landing some.

These are the villagers who are likely to have been out foraging and know the places to look when no significant rain has fallen.

But in those cold, damp autumn years, we’ve felt like we’ve had Saffron Milk Cap mushrooms coming out of our ears.

A damp autumn and winter can mean the season continues to late December and even into January.

You never know what’s in store for Saffron Milk Cap Mushroom season and it’s always worth keeping an eye for them from November onwards.

Even if it’s been dry in Fethiye, it only takes a small downpour in the forested hills for the mushrooms to sprout.

So we don’t know what’s in store – that’s the beauty of seasonal food.

But we do know that by the time November comes around, we’ve not had Saffron Milk Cap Mushrooms for 10-11 months. We await their arrival with excitement.

More often than not, their price doesn’t break the bank and we get to savour the seasonal delight that goes by the Latin name of Lactarius Deliciosus.

How To Cook Saffron Milk Cap Mushrooms

We’ve been cooking with Saffron Milk Cap Mushrooms for a few years, now and have a few recipes under our belts.

These dishes are now part of our annual cooking habits when we have a bounty of this seasonal treat.

• Keeping it simple, and enjoying the flavours and meaty texture of the Saffron Milk Cap Mushroom, try our quick, milky recipe for seasonal garlic mushrooms on toast.
• We love spinach with the Saffron Milk Cap Mushroom so we’ve cooked them together in a spinach and mushroom risotto and also gone a more Turkish route with Turkish spinach and mushroom börek.
• And then there’s one of our favourite Turkish ingredients – and perhaps our favourite experimentation with the Saffron Milk Cap Mushroom to date – Spicy sucuk and Saffron Milk Cap Mushroom in a rich tomato sauce. Yummy!

The Saffron Milk Cap Mushroom is popular in Spain where the Catalans fry them in butter and stir in scrambled eggs.

For a Turkish twist to this, you could make a pan of menemen and include the Saffron Milk Caps.

The mushroom is also cooked with chorizo or used as a topping for flat breads. We think they’d be perfect as a homemade pide topping.

And, should you find yourself in Russia, you’re likely to see the Saffron Milk Cap Mushroom pickled (interesting).

And if you’re chatting to a Turkish chef friend, he’ll suck in air between his teeth at the price you’ve just paid for your mushrooms.

Then he’ll tell you he’s off up to the yayla (Turkish highlands), and then make you jealous by telling you he’s going to take the barbecue with him, forage for his own and then barbecue them with sizzling butter on them!

The Saffron Milk Cap Mushroom In Turkey – Extra Info

• Gourmet mushroom experts will tell you not to wash your mushrooms as they harbour water. However, when foragers harvest the Saffron Milk Cap Mushroom in Turkey, they arrive on the markets covered in bits of mud and pine needles. We give our mushrooms a good rinse a few hours before we’re going to cook them, pat them dry and them leave them out to dry until cooking time. Failure to wash your Fethiye-bought çintar will result in a gritty meal! Just saying.
• Hope we aren’t preaching to the converted here, but, as with all types of mushrooms, don’t go foraging for your own unless you *really* know what you are doing. Some similar-looking mushrooms can be dangerous to eat.
• If you see Saffron Milk Cap Mushrooms (çıntar) for sale on the market and they have a few green bits on them, don’t worry. This is the bruising where they have been handled. Obviously, it’s nicer to get perfectly rounded, blemish-free orange mushrooms but a few bits of greenery is no disaster.