If you're any kind of an outdoorsman you better get up in the mountains and get hunting. And I'm not talking about bears or turkeys.
We're talking about morel mushrooms. They're the best outdoor delicacy available. In fact, they are one of the best fungi in the world, second only to the truffle in England.
If you've never eaten one you may wonder why I am so excited. Try one and you'll be sold. To get started have an old timer go with you. You don't want to make a mistake. If you mistakenly pick the angel of death, well, let's just say that you and God had better be on good terms because you're going to be seeing Him pretty fast.
I took a mushroom class last year - excuse me, a mycological class is the correct term - in hopes that I could identify more species. There are 10 species that are said to be easily identified out here but after class I didn't feel properly prepared so I still just pick the few that I normally do.
Morels are my go-to mushrooms, but I also pick cauliflower and used to pick snow morels but some people are allergic to them so I no longer pick them. My buddies pick puffballs and many others, but I just stick with these.
Again, if you don't know what you're doing go with an old-timer the first season. So, where do you find them? Ha, that's the million dollar question. You hear all kinds of rumors. By logs. In the shade. By the river. By fir trees. I find them wherever. I can give you some generic rules but then all of a sudden I'll find them in a new unique setting.
Everyone says that after a spring shower and a few warm days they will start popping out. As you find them at one elevation then move up a few days later to follow them as they ripen (I don't guess it's called ripening).
I have spots where for whatever reason they grow every year. So if you find a good spot hit it again next year. We recently found all of ours within a 200-yard area. Why were they only in that spot? Who knows?
But the absolute best places to pick are last years forest fires. If you know where a fire was last summer/winter hit it. They're almost magical. I've had burns where all of us have picked two five gallon buckets each in a short amount of time and walk off leaving loads of them.
If the fire is from two years ago, it's not the same - only last year's burn. Call the Forest Service and ask them where they burned last year or where there were fires. In burned areas look along fallen logs, in root holes and even on open hillsides.
I remember once I found 162 in an area that you could of covered with an 8-foot-by-10-foot tarp. That was a crazy year. Many hardcore pickers cut them off at ground level with a paring knife and carry them in a fine mesh bag so the spores fall out.
If you find too many to eat all at once you can dry them by stringing them with a needle and hang them out to dry, lay in the sun or use a fruit dryer. I split, rinse and freeze them in baggies.
To prepare them for eating I split them longwise and then gently rinse them off. Be super careful or you can damage them. Put in a bowl and fill with water and dump a few times. Mushrooms out of a burn will have a lot of ash on them and require more rinsing.
Then fill a bowl with water and sprinkle with salt to kill the bugs and set overnight in the fridge but many times I will fry up a batch that night.
To cook, drain and then mix an egg in a bowl with a little milk. Dip in the egg batter and coat with flour. Throw in a black skillet with semi-hot grease and sprinkle on your favorite seasoning salt (Tony Cachere's). Fry to a golden brown and get ready to partake in the best treat that you've ever had. Happy eating.[[In-content Ad]]
