The Tasty Morel

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“You’ve got Morels!” my father exclaimed when he heard the news. He and my mother were so excited to hear that there were Morel mushrooms on the farm we purchased near Dyersburg, Tennessee. Both of my parents grew up in southern Indiana where it was a family tradition to hunt these wild delicacies.  Each spring they and their neighbors would make a beeline for the woods checking out their most productive (and secret) sites while scanning the forest for more.  It wasn’t just a search for food.  The Morel hunt was a family tradition handed down through the generations. Parents taught their children how to find, handle, and prepare these fungi. Both of my parents have fond memories hunting with my grandparents and each other. My mother told me how she, her sister Eunice and my grandmother Fyrne would pack a lunch, hike out into the woods and spend the day hunting, examining the wildflowers, and enjoying each other’s company. After my mom and dad married, they continued the tradition hunting the forest together. When they moved to Florida in the early 60s, they were only able to return to Indiana to hunt a handful of times. Now, since they’re spending several months a year on our farm in Tennessee, they can hunt and enjoy these mushroom again!
Morels are an easily identifiable mushroom standing from 1 to 6 inches tall and having a sponge like, hollow cone shaped top mounted on a hollow stem (see pictures). Since it’s so easily recognizable it is one of the safest to gather and consume. For some pointers on identification, I found a website with great pictures and descriptions of the various Morel varieties, www.michiganmorels.com. However, many mushrooms are poisonous. So, I caution you to have any you find checked by someone with experience before you eat them! 
Hunting mushrooms is very much like fishing. It’s an art, not a science, and your success will improve with practice. To get a jumpstart, I would recommend spending time with an experienced friend or family member hunting. Like a veteran fisherman, they will teach you when, where and how to look. And you’ll get to see firsthand what a Morel should look like inside and out. 
Just in case you can’t find a mushroom hunter, I’ll share what I’ve learned. First off, I would recommend wearing boots (in case you run into a snake), long sleeves (for protection from poison ivy) and carrying a walking stick (to push brush and leaves out of the way as you look). You’ll also need a bag or basket to carry your find.  If you choose a bag, please use a mesh type, like an onion or citrus bag. The reason for the mesh is twofold. First off, mushrooms reproduce by spores. Each one will put off a quarter of a million spores or more! By using a mesh bag you allow the spores to spread out through the forest as you hunt. Using a plastic or paper bag prevents the spores from spreading, wasting your opportunity to spread mushroom cheer for later years. The second reason for not using a plastic bag is moisture.  Morels have a high water content and need to be kept cool and moist or allowed to start drying. Collecting the mushrooms in a plastic bag does not allow for evaporation and they’ll immediately begin to rot.

Morels are an easily identifiable mushroom standing from one to six inches tall and having a sponge like, hollow, cone-shaped top, mounted on a hollow stem. Photo by author

This picture shows how gigantic a Bigfoot morel mushroom can get. No wonder Sasquatch got so huge. Image courtesy of [email protected] & Pharmer.org

Spring crappie on the spawn and morel mushrooms have three things in common. They taste delicious, are best found during the springtime, and are splendid creations of God. Courtesy of Dan Stefanich www.DanStefOutdoors.com

These morel mushrooms are a delicacy in the kitchen. Photo by author

Searching for morels is a combination of an outdoor adventure and a treasure hunt! Courtesy of Tony Street

The next question is, when do I hunt? There are several varieties that come up throughout spring. The time to start looking in the forest is when the undergrowth (trillium, May apples, wildflowers, etc.) comes alive and the redbuds begin to bloom. Temperature, moisture, and sunlight all play into the equation. The Ideal temperature range takes place when it stretches into the 60s during the day while the night doesn’t dip below the 40s. Mushrooms like the soil moist, but not soaked, and the sun to warm the ground. A great time to look is the day after a rain, when the sun is out and the temperature range is right.
Where do I look? That’s the question, isn’t it? This again has parallels to fishing. There are places that are more likely to have mushrooms just like there are places in a lake that are more likely to hold fish.  However, that doesn’t mean they’ll be there. All I can do is share what I’ve learned. The best advice I can give you is that often, and I mean very often, mushrooms will come up in the same place year after year.  That’s one reason experienced hunters come back with more mushrooms. They make a beeline for where they’ve found them in the past. And don’t waste your time asking them where they’ve found their haul. It’s like asking a fisherman where he caught his stringer of fish! He won’t tell you exactly, just generally. He found it and as far as he is concerned, that place is now HIS SECRET! So, keep a mental or written log of everywhere you find mushrooms. And remember, we now have modern technology… even in our phones. Using a GPS to mark your spot is not against the rules.
My father, Kenneth has a system. He looks under and around Ash, Elm and Tulip Poplar trees. I’ve also been told by others that a good place to look is around the base of larger Sycamore and Cottonwoods.  My mother, Mildred likes to look around fallen, dead or dying trees. Decaying roots and tree material is an ideal food source for mushrooms. The real challenge to finding Morels anywhere is actually seeing them! They blend right in with the leaves making it easy to walk right past without notice. In fact, beginners walk by many more than they ever find. The best way to see one is to walk in a crouched manner looking not down at your feet, but 10 to 20 feet ahead seeking their distinctive cone shape outline. And when you find one, STOP. My father taught me that where there is one, there is often more. Sit down next to your find and calmly look in every direction. If you don’t see any, take your walking stick and closely look through the surrounding brush and leaves. More likely than not, you’ll find more!
There are several varieties of Morels to train your eyes to find. The first to emerge in the early spring are the black Morels. They are typically smaller but are especially tasty with a very strong flavor. The greys (also called whites) are next and are larger and taste great. However, my favorite is the yellow. It’s the last variety to come up and are the largest of the varieties I have found them reaching up to 6 inches or more in height.  
Once you finish your hunt, and have recorded your now SECRET HUNTING SPOTS, it’s time to prepare your find to eat. My mother prepares hers as her mother, Fyrne did. The first thing is to soak them in cool salted water. There are multiple cavities in the crown of the Morel, which house a multitude of small insects. Soaking in salt water drives these creatures out from their hiding places and avoids adding unwanted protein to your meal! Also, remember to NOT pour your soaking water down the drain. It’s now loaded with Morel spores! My mother ALWAYS pours her water at the edge of the woods behind the house. She’s been doing it long enough that Morels now pop up each spring! 
Cooking is a matter of preference. Morels are great sliced and sautéed with onions. However, my family is from the country and we like ours sliced, rolled in flower and fried in butter! My father and I prefer eating them between two slices of white bread. He even spreads on a layer of butter! This method may not be the healthiest, but the warm & uniquely meaty flavor of the mushroom covered in the crunchy texture of the fried batter surrounded by the soft white bread is heaven to the palate!
I love Morels! And after doing the research for this article, I can’t wait to start hunting! But, before I go, I have to share with you one more thing I discovered. There is an amazing variety of Morel I had never heard of before. It’s called the Bigfoot Morel and a single mushroom can weigh up to 4 pounds! No wonder it’s called a BIGFOOT! They are relatively common in the states north of us, and after some more internet research, I discovered several posts where people have found them in Tennessee. I’m excited! I now have a new goal: finding a Bigfoot Morel mushroom! I could feed my whole family with just one! 
I encourage you to try your luck hunting Morels. Even if you don’t find a one, the day won’t be a waste. The peace and beauty found in the woods can’t be matched by the structures created by man. God is still the master craftsman and always will be. So, enjoy your day in the woods, embrace the special gift that it is and praise and give thanks to the Creator of it and you!
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