To any Morel mushroom fans in the Midwest US

"Morchella esculenta, commonly known as the morel, sponge mushroom, or honeycomb morel, was adopted as the official mushroom of the state of Minnesota in 1984."

Dick, do you see them often in your home state of Minnesota? Dee

When I lived in Virginia we used to get them from a cousin of mine who was a mushroom hunter. They are such awesome mushrooms!

We picked about 100 yellows yesterday at my farm in central Ohio.

Party at Bi!!'s house. Next spring I think of some reason to go to Ohio. Then Lipton can drive over and we can argue re matches,.

Morrel spots are a closely guarded secret here in France... whereas for some reason they are almost unknown in Italy.

To me they are heaven, and I swear by chicken done with morrels packed under the skin accompanied with a top flight vin jaune (or a fino if you prefer). One of those matches that always work to perfection.

One interesting cousin of the morrel is gyromitra esculenta (false morrel), when I lived in Montreal I had a french butcher who kept them close to the counter, and would not sell to you unless you could prove to him you knew how to deal with them. Most manuals play it safe and mark gyromitra as highly toxic, but in fact all you have to do is blanch them in boiling water for a minute and discard the water before you cook them in butter. BTW in theory you should do this with morrels too, as they are also mildly toxic. Gyromitra has the shape of a brain and is totally hollow inside; it is larger than a morrel, the texture is great and the taste as good as or better than morrels...

I'm a strong mushroom hunter. In my experience it is easy to find thousands different type of mushrooms here, but hardly those that we call "spugnole".

Gyromitra is reported to be not only toxic, but MORTAL. Geromytrina is a volatile compund, that accumulates in the human body. DO NOT EAT large amount of Gyrimitra even if boiled or dried, nor two or three times consecutively.

Luk

And a happy argument it would be. One thing that's come to my attention since that time is that what we call a morel out here is almost certainly M. esculenta, which is distinct (and most would say inferior in flavor) to the "true" morel, M. deliciosa. So, perhaps what you say about pairing morels is true for deliciosa but not for esculenta. Or, maybe you're just WRONG!!! ;-)

Mark Lipton (basking in the warm afterglow of having successfully switched daycare facilities)

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You're always welcome at my place. The morels are usually available from mid April through late May. Golf at Muirfield Village is an option as well. My farm is about an hour from my house and both have well stocked cellars!

Right now we're finding "yellows" or M. esculenta we find more greys and blacks a little later.

In fact after A. phalloides, gyromitra is I think responsible for the most fatalities.

We spend a lot of time mushrooming but wouldn't mess with this one. I know folks who enjoy it, and have heard a story about someone who ate it their entire life before poisoning wife and 2 children one day.

No morels around here, sadly. Lots and lots of cepes though.

Mike your chicken match sounds fab, I'll have to give that a try.

-E

I didn't know that.

Hi Dee, Morels are a new treat for me. I haven't really checked where to find them in Minnesota. Grocery stores - no, farmer's markets - maybe. This year we'll purchase some in Muscoda. We went on a little road trip in May of last year and found some at a gas station in Iowa. Dick R.