What’s the best thing you’ve ever eaten? A fresh juicy, ripe peach picked right off the tree? Ask this of a hundred people and chances are good that you will receive a hundred different answers. Some might say succulent prime rib or filet mignon broiled medium rare. Or wild strawberries with chilled heavy cream. Maybe fresh, ripe, hot buttered sweet corn fresh off the stalk. Or a luscious dish of piping hot, cheesy Crab Imperial. Perhaps your mother’s homemade chicken and dumplings. Or a juicy, ripe peach picked fresh from the tree.
Whatever your favorite food, whatever it is that makes you drool, unquestionably and without reservation, if you have to stop and think of an answer, you’ve never eaten morels.
No single wild food is more diligently hunted and prized than this most popular mushroom – the common morel. For this fungus alone were created the words “superb” and “unrivaled.” And as much as the morel is praised by mycophagists, even more so are they secretive about it.
Wild food enthusiasts are usually more than willing to share information about wild foods with others who have an interest in sampling the free bounty of the earth. I’ve often received valuable information on where to find all kinds of wild foods and have even more often reciprocated with similar information. Not so, however, with morels. I know of no one who is willing to divulge the whereabouts of even a single specimen – including myself. In fact, not only are mushroom fanciers secretive about where to find morels, they are even reluctant to share their bounty when they return home. Remember, these are morels – the best food you’ll ever eat.
Besides the fact that they taste absolutely divine, there is no need to use elaborate and involved recipes to enjoy them. Simply sauté them in pure, creamery butter (they deserve only the best). As they sauté, they release a liquid that mixes with the butter to create a thick, creamy sauce to serve them in. The sauce is so good you will want to lick the plate. Some folks like them cooked in with scrambled eggs, or coated with cracker crumbs and sautéed. For me, the simpler the better. Anything cooked with them detracts from their unique flavor.
If you are so inclined, there can be no better mushroom soup than is made with morels. On the rare occasion that you have a surplus, they can be kept for future use by simply sautéing lightly, packing in jars or vacuum packing and freezing.
Without giving away specifics, the morel is found mostly in moist woods, old apple orchards and other shady areas, especially in burned over areas. Best places to look are under and around dead elm trees and around tulip poplars. I’ve also found them in large numbers in white pine woods.
As is true with all mushrooms, proper identification is essential. There are three color varieties of true morels. The most common is the yellow morel, Morchella esculenta. They have creamy white stems with pale cream or tan heads. The caps of the black morel, Morchella angusticeps, have dark brown or black ridges. The white morel, Morchella deliciosa, is actually more gray than white and said to be the most highly prized. They all very closely resemble the false morels which are to be avoided. One thing to look for in morels is a cap that attached to the stem at the bottom end, unlike the false morels whose caps hang from the stems unattached. The false morels are convoluted and brain like, where the common morel is pitted with distinct, whitish ridges. Since the edible morels are found in the spring (April and May), those mushrooms found in the fall are most likely the false morels and should be avoided.
There are many other edible mushrooms besides the morel, including the easily recognizable puffballs and shaggy manes, which are easily found and identified. Once you start delving into this aspect of wild food collecting, you will surely want to include many of them in your recipes. Like other wild foods, different specimens vary in taste, but for downright unrivaled eating, the morel is tops.
