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The Lactarius Delicious which the Catalans call rovellons and which are commonly known as saffron milk caps are, within the extensive field of mushrooms, a well-known species that is eagerly awaited at the start of the rainy season. 


Saffron milk caps are pine mushrooms, which usually grow near the roots, in sandy, well-drained soil. They are usually closed and open gradually. They have compact, white flesh, the colour changing until it reaches orange as it opens out, when it will be an orange colour with reddish circles. It has a small, cylindrical stalk and a characteristic cap that progressively changes shape. Occasionally, when they break, they turn green, which can lead people to think that it is a poisonous species. However, this colour is normal and they are perfectly edible. 

Pleasant aroma, meaty texture

If they are small and recently picked, saffron milk caps have a pleasant aroma and their meaty, dense and fragile texture is a real delicacy, although they are sometimes a little bitter to the palate.

They should be stored properly since as the days go by their quality reduces. If they are not going to be consumed immediately, the best thing to do is to boil them for less than five minutes and freeze them, so that when they are removed from the freezer, they do not turn black. With this resource, you can enjoy saffron milk caps out of season, although you can always buy them pre-packed in the supermarkets.  

They can also be stored in a vinaigrette and prepared as an appetiser or seasoned with parsley and garlic, placed in a jar and boiled over a pan of boiling water. That way, they will keep for a full year. 

Saffron milk caps are very versatile in the kitchen. They are delicious prepared with finely chopped garlic and parsley and then grilled, with a drop of olive oil and salt, without turning them over, so that the juice from the mushroom is not lost. If they are small they can be fried in a frying pan with oil, adding garlic and parsley before frying some eggs in the same pan. Alternatively you can cook them with a little sautéed onion, garlic and red pepper. 

Numerous options

A classic recipe is saffron milk caps with ham. You put some olive oil in a frying pan and when it is hot you add some sliced garlic and chilli, leaving it to brown without burning. Add the saffron milk caps and chopped ham and cook it over a moderate heat for ten minutes. When the mushrooms absorb the water that they initially lose, the dish is ready.

You can find saffron milk caps with rice or pasta, or in a good potato stew. This is prepared by sautéing some onion, and frying the sliced mushrooms in it, adding some sliced potato, carrot, strips of green pepper, water, salt and some crushed garlic, parsley and saffron threads and then leaving it to cook.

They can also be used as the main ingredient in salads (with watercress and fried bacon), omelettes, scrambled eggs, pizzas and sauces and even to stuff meat and fish. They are commonly used to garnish red meat, in the form of sautéed mushrooms. They are washed thoroughly and cut into strips. You fry several cloves of garlic in a frying pan over a moderate heat until they turn golden brown and then you drain them. Then you turn the heat up, sauté the saffron milk caps, add some chopped anchovies and olives and then right at the last minute you add the garlic you fried earlier and a teaspoonful of mint.

This type of mushrooms goes well with fish like salmon, which can be grilled and served with saffron milk caps which have been sautéed and heated in a drop of cream. Those who enjoy trying desserts that go further than traditional flavours can have a go at a delicious saffron milk cap ice cream.

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