The term "boletus" in modern botany and cooking means several varieties of mushrooms. All of them are edible and almost identical in taste, but some mushroom pickers, nevertheless, believe that some varieties are tastier than others.
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Instruction manual
1
Externally, it is quite easy to determine the boletus in the forest. Usually they have an orange, red or brown hat and flesh turning blue on a cut. From mushrooms similar to them in appearance, these mushrooms are distinguished by a rather stocky and thick stalk. But it must be remembered that along with external signs, one cannot 100% rely on the place where the boletus boletus grows. This name was given to them not only because of their proximity to aspens, but also because mushroom caps are similar in color to the leaves of this tree falling in autumn, which can be found under other plants, for example, because of the wind.
2
It’s not always easy to sort out what kind of boletus is in front of you, but it’s still possible, for example, the appearance of the red boletus is very characteristic: the cap is hemispherical with an average diameter of 18-25 cm. It easily gets off the leg and has a reddish-brown, red or orange tint; the flesh is very fleshy and resilient, with a white color on the cut, which quickly changes to bluish. Red boletus does not have a noticeable taste or smell. The tubular layer under the hat is white, with tubes darkening from touch; the leg is solid, very massive, gray or white, with noticeable scales.
3
External characteristics of yellow-brown boletus: a hemispherical hat up to 25 cm in size, painted in yellow, orange or tan, with overhanging edges; the pulp is white and dense, on the cut it turns pink first, and then turns blue or even turns purple; the tubular layer is grayish or olive; the leg is stocky, with a noticeable thickening from below.
4
Another species of boletus (the rarest of all) is white. This is a mushroom with an average diameter of a hat of 15 cm, in the shape of a pillow; usually white, but shades of gray and pink are also possible; the stalk of the mushroom is rather high, club-shaped, with gray or brown scales; the tubular layer under the hat is white-gray or slightly yellowish; initially the white flesh on the cut turns blue or even blackens.
5
The red-legged boletus has a pronounced and convex hat of pink color with a smooth surface; white or pinkish tubes; smooth leg of a cylindrical shape with the same as other boletus, pronounced scales almost the entire length; the flesh is initially white and dense, occasionally buffy or yellowish, which changes its color to blue at the point of cut with a knife or break.