In late autumn, just before the frosts, there are not many mushrooms in our Tver region.

The white, aspen trees broke off, even the later mushroom – the pine ginger has already departed.

A couple of frozen chanterelles and thin slimy hygrophores do not please the lover of the third hunt.

All that remains for him is to wander sadly through the white–moss forests and breathe the cool pre-winter air, but this does not apply to advanced mushroom pickers.

Pine whiteflies are a favorite place for the growth of an interesting and little–known edible mushroom – the tortoiseshell hedgehog.

It is large, fleshy, even, perhaps, too dense, similar to a large podgruzok with a dark hat with a pattern of scales whipped up and with amazingly delicate spikes under the hat.

Hedgehogs are real stoics among mushrooms. Old, almost lignified, they stand quietly in the forest until spring. But we are interested in young, soft, light mushrooms.

In the families that the hedgehog prefers to grow, there are usually from 2 to 3 pieces. It is better to leave the “oldies” in the forest. It is not difficult to cut a whole basket of weighty hats and bring it home.

The best thing there is to cut them into strips and dry them in a cool dryer and then, in winter, enjoy eating a hedgehog in cabbage soup, borscht and second courses. The hedgehog has a slightly sweet, warm and incomparable mushroom aroma.

In addition, it is a mushroom with medicinal properties.

It is able to lower cholesterol and is a powerful immunomodulator.

The scaly hedgehog has never been used in folk medicine, but scientists in the laboratory were able to extract substances from it that can have a broad-spectrum antimicrobial effect, neutralizing even Staphylococcus aureus and salmonella.

And also studies have proved that preparations from kolchak motley can be beneficial for oncological diseases.