Loose Morels

Nearly perfect morel specimen and Opinel mushroom knife

***NEVER eat a wild mushroom unless you are 100% certain of its identity. This post is not intended as a comprehensive guide to the safe eating of wild-ass mushrooms. If you elect to eat something you've plucked from the ground, the risk is entirely yours.***

The dawn chorus of birdsong and the appearance of spring ephemerals heralds one of the most exciting times of the year: morel season. Morels have long been considered among the most choice edible mushrooms. For mycophiles, these secretive shrooms exist in the ecstatic space between obsession and religion. Aspiring foragers, with a little knowledge and patience, can easily learn to differentiate the delicious morel from toxic impostors.

There are several species in the genus Morchella that are variously identified as yellow, black, and gray morels but advances in DNA testing have thrown the entire taxonomy of fungi into a sort of no-man's-land of identification. The good news is that regardless of the lack of consensus on speciation, all of the morels mentioned above are edible and delicious.

Morels are a particularly interesting mushroom because they can be both saprophytic (feeding on dead and decaying plant matter) and mycorrhizal (existing in a symbiotic relationship with living trees through a complex network of mycelia). The morel specimens pictured below are all likely mycorrhizal as I have found them near living ash trees. Others have had success searching very old apple orchards and stands of dead elm trees where these mushrooms are living a saprophytic lifestyle.

Good field marks for identifying morels include a cap that is deeply pitted (as opposed to simply lobed) and firmly attached to the stalk. Cutting the mushroom in half down its length will reveal a hollow inside. There are two (theoretically) toxic "look-alikes" which we will discuss below but having positively identified an actual morel, one can be assured of a delicious meal.

To harvest a morel, simply cut through the stalk just above the ground with a sharp knife. Morels and other wild mushrooms should be collected in a basket or mesh bag that will allow the mushrooms to breath. I find that a mesh soccer ball bag is the perfect way to carry foraged mushrooms because it is eminently packable and can carry quite a few specimens. Avoid plastic bags at all cost as they will cause your mushrooms to sweat out their moisture very quickly. Once collected, only a minimum of preparation is required to enjoy these mushrooms.

As with all wild mushrooms, morels should only be eaten after being thoroughly cooked. Many enticing recipes are easily found in books and on the internet but one can pretty much treat morels as you would any other mushroom. When I get them home, I rinse each mushroom very carefully to dislodge any debris or hitchhikers from the insect world. I then slice the caps into fairly large slivers which I will then re-rinse to be doubly sure I won't be getting any extra protein from slugs and other non-human morel loving creatures. Quite a few recipes recommend soaking the mushrooms in salt water with the aim of expelling various critters. I find that this seriously degrades the mushrooms' flavor and consistency. Any un-appetizing organisms are easily removed mechanically by rinsing and I'm just not that bothered by any that I would have trouble seeing with the naked eye as cooking will render them  harmless. Overly dry or rotten portions of the cap can simply be cut out like one would do with fruits and vegetables.

Your cleaned, sliced morels can be prepared simply by sauteing them in butter and/or olive oil for up to 15 minutes. Sauteed morels are delicious by themselves, on top of a nice steak, in omelettes, or as the base for a sauce. Methods for preserving your harvest include drying, freezing, and canning. They do not keep particularly well in the refrigerator and unless you are lucky enough to get into a morel bonanza, I recommend dispensing with thoughts of preserving them and just enjoying your morels as soon as possible after harvest.

What a beauty!

Mesh bags are perfect for collecting mushrooms.

I ate this one with some fava beans and a nice Chianti. 

I had to resist harvesting this little guy. He'll grow up in a few days.

Gyromitra esculenta or "conifer false morel" (pictured below) is a toxic lookalike that a careful forager would actually have a difficult time confusing with a genuine morel. In our area, these impostors grow under hemlock, white pine, and other conifers- habitat where you'd be unlikely to find morels. Furthermore, the false morel's cap bears only a passing resemblance to an actual morel. Note the lobed, brain-like appearance of the cap which is strikingly different than the morel's deep pitting. When sliced, Gyromitras have irregular hollow chambers as opposed to the true morel's straw-like hollow interior. Latin scholars will note that "esculenta" means edible. There are many who advise that this false morel can be eaten if cooked carefully. I wouldn't advise it.

Gyromitra esculenta or "conifer false morel". Note the lobed brain-like appearance of the cap.

Verpa bohemica or "wrinkled thimble-cap" more closely resembles the true morel but again is lobed rather than pitted. Another obvious red flag is that the cap is not attached to the stalk at the bottom. As with Gyromitras, many claim to have safely eaten this mushroom although there have been reports of muscular side-effects after eating large quantities of Verpas. Why risk it?

*NOT MY PHOTO* Verpa bohemica or "wrinkled thimble-cap". 

Hunting for morels is a relaxing and rewarding spring pastime. As the year progresses, check this blog for updates on other seasonal wild-edible mushrooms. For now, get out there and find some morels!

We Go Where Eagles Dare

When I was a kid, seeing a bald eagle was a major event. It was the kind of thing you'd recount for friends and family at every opportunity. It was, quite literally, a rare sighting. By 1963, widespread use of the pesticide DDT and habitat fragmentation through deforestation had brought the population down to just 487 breeding pairs in the "lower 48" states. Unless you lived in a heavily forested riparian wilderness area you had a very poor chance of ever sighting this majestic bird. 

The 1972 ban on DDT use, followed closely by 1973's Endangered Species Act, laid the groundwork for one of the most incredible comeback stories in the annals of natural history. A more than threefold increase in bald eagle numbers had already taken place by 1981, the year I was born. When I became a freshman in high-school there were more than 5,000 breeding pairs- a tenfold increase from the abysmally low 1963 census. That number nearly doubled by 2007 when the bird was de-listed from ESA protection.

Today, bald eagles are a relatively common sight anywhere where suitable habitat exists. In my habitat, near the Connecticut River, I find it more notable to pass a day without having seen at least one of these fascinating creatures. The current post-de-listing monitoring plan will ensure that the population of our national bird never again reaches the depths to which we allowed it to plummet in the 1960s. Getting into close proximity to these birds is an awe-inspiring event. Their beauty, grace, power, and majesty touches something primal within us. Bald eagles help to teach us the value of conservation.

The Elusive Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

This tiny bird is an excellent example of the type of thing discussed in one of my favorite quotes; (often, but probably mis-) attributed to W.B. Yeats: "The world is full of magical things patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper".  The Blue-gray Gnatcatcher is only 4.5 inches from nose to tail, it flits frenetically through tree branches and brush and it doesn't stay in any one place for very long. This is the type of bird you'd really have to be looking for to see. It's just one of countless interesting things that is exists- and is available for us to enjoy- whether we care to pay attention or not. It is a reminder of what we sacrifice when we don't explore.