Fermented St George mushroom

Fermenting mushrooms is a popular way to preserve mushrooms in Slavic countries. Mushrooms prepared this way can be used in a salad or on bread. The liquid, left over after fermentation, can be used as a vegan fish sauce. For this recipe, we used St. George mushroom (Calocybe gambosa).

The St George mushroom is one of the first gilled mushrooms to appear in the spring. Historically it appeared around St George day on 23th April but in current days can be found weeks earlier. This mushroom is one of the few mushrooms that can be consumed raw. Its raw taste is however not appreciated by everyone and often described as mealy with a hint of cucumber. When cooked and also when fermented this taste goes away.

Some care must be taken in properly identifying this mushroom as there are poisonous mushrooms that can resemble the St George mushroom to an untrained eye. The table below lists some key characteristics of look a likes. Always use an up to date field guide and don’t eat any mushroom if there is any doubt.

Print Recipe

Fermtented St George mushroom

Prep Time30 minutes mins

Cook Time3 days d

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: Slavic

Keyword: fermented, fermenting, mushroom

Equipment

• 1 Fermenting pot
• 1 cooking pot

Ingredients

• Salt 1 tsp per layer
• Wild garlic (optional)
• St George mushrooms

Instructions

• Wash the mushrooms thoroughly.
• Separate the heads from the stems of the St George mushrooms.
• Bring a pot with enough water to submerge all mushrooms to a boil.
• Once the water boils, turn off the heat and let the mushrooms blench for 5 minutes.
  
• Add a layer of salt to the bottom of your fermenting pot.
  
• Add a layer of mushroom heads with the gills facing downwards.
  
• Optionally add some wild garlic or other aromatics.
  
• Add another layer of salt.
• Add a another layer of mushrooms heads with the gills facing upwards.
  
• Repeat the layering each time alternating the direction the gills face until the all mushrooms are in the pot. Remember to leave some space for the next step.
  
• Add a freezer bag filled with water on top of the mushrooms to press the mushrooms down.
  
• After a day check if the mushrooms are fully submerged in liquid, if they don't dissolve a teaspoon of salt in half a cup of water and add some of the water to the fermenting jar so the mushrooms are fully submerged.
• Taste your mushrooms after 3 days, if the the taste is to your liking transfer the mushrooms to a container to store in the fridge to stop the fermenting process. If you want to mushrooms to be more fermented you can let them ferment for longer.

Notes

You can save the left over liquid from the fermentation process and use it as a vegan fish sauce.