The morel of the story A spring walk in the woods is beckoning me. I long for the sight of the May apple, and the smell of apple blossoms. With heightened senses, and sunlight filtering through the budding trees playing a dappled game amongst last fall’s leaves, I’ll scan. I’ll scout and try to decipher color and texture, while trying not to being fooled by walnut shells or corn cobs carried to the timber by foraging deer. How can a lowly fungi cause people to descend into spring madness? Of course I’m talking about the fruit of the lowly fungi -- the morel mushroom. Once bitten by the bug, morel hunters begin an annual spring ritual. Prime habitat and its location are guarded like a family secret. Tales of the “honey tree” and the bounty of years past grow exponentially, not unlike similar tales told of ones biggest fish catch. Morel hunters are every bit the grandiose liars as other sportspersons -- hunters or fishers. I’ve heard the tales of hunters filling their sacks and then having to remove and tie the tails of their shirts to fashion another sack in which to carry the bounty. In a week or so we will be finding the early morels. Usually the little gray morels are the first to pop from the ground. They can be hard to find because of their diminutive stature. In the past few years I have become re-familiarized with the quest for the morel. I have learned that one must enter into a certain frame of mind where you become one with nature. Color and texture is the best indicator of the presence of the morel. Once you find the first, it pays to stand back a couple paces and stare at the cap and note the color, orientation and especially the texture. One you become attuned to these cues, the others just seem to jump out at you. I have also learned that when you find that first one, you need to stop and look around. Usually you will find a few or maybe even many more in the vicinity. Some of those you might have even stepped on before your senses snapped to attention. Using a walking stick is a must while mushroom hunting. Using the stick, you can move fallen bark and plants out of the way to look under them. You also need to become one with that stick and imbibe magical qualities to it. You do have to enter into a frame of mind where your senses all are working together. You can, under certain circumstances smell the presence of the underground mycelium from which the fruits pop up. Of course all efforts are for naught if you arent in the right place. If you know where morels have been found in the past, there is a good place to start. Of course, like I stated earlier, most people guard their spots zealously, and any directions given by a seasoned hunter should be suspect. The soil temperature has to be just right. So does ground moisture. Once the ground reaches a certain temperature and the ground is drained, yet moist, with no standing water, the morels will pop. Bearing in mind that certain helpful hints from other hunters is suspect, I have tried out many of the theories other hunters have told me. Some have panned out, while most havent. The part of our timber which contains elms, both living and dead has been a good source of morels in the past, but not always. Last year spring arrived late and the soil temperature didnt reach the right temperature until late in the usual season. Instead of finding morels deep in the timber in the usual places, we found most on the edges of the timber where morning sun had warmed the dank soil. We found many morels in the grass right on the edge of the timber. There was a couple week window before the grass got too high. The solid moisture content should be perfect for morels this year. I will begin looking on the south slope of the hogbacks above the cricks where the soil is while drained, and has sufficient dead leaves to trap the right amount of moisture. The variable we dont know yet is temperature. If we have an early spring where daytime temperatures rise into the high 60s and 70s, and stay in the 50s during the night, we should have a banner year for morels. Morels need to be processed fairly quickly after the harvest. The dirt has to be washed off the stems and bad spots pinched from the fruit. We always split them down the middle lengthwise and put them in a bowl containing salt water. This will force all those little bugs which might have climbed inside to swim for their lives. After a short brine bath, I like to dry them on a towel. I believe the best way to cook them is to dredge them in seasoned flour and fry them in butter. After experimentation, I think the best way to keep morels is to go ahead and fry them and place them into a container and freeze them. A little warming in the microwave oven will bring them back almost to their fresh state. Besides, when you find that bounty, it will help extend the eating season beyond the hunting season. But if you ask me how I did, I might set you on a false trail and maybe even embellish the story a bit. Of course if you’re lucky, I might even invite you over to share in the feast, especially if you bring fresh caught crappie. I’ll supply the asparagus. I dont know about you, but I can hardly wait.
Posted on: Tue, 22 Apr 2014 11:23:49 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015