Morel mushrooms

[Monica Bhide]

Locally? Online? suggestions on how to tell if they are "good"? Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

[rosebud]

The only place I have seen them sold fresh is at Dean & Deluca in Georgetown. You will need to take out a second mortgage.

[Bux]

They're also a spring mushroom, if I'm not mistaken. One of the few.

[Monica Bhide]

The only place I have seen them sold fresh is at Dean & Deluca in Georgetown.  You will need to take out a second mortgage. 

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I heard they are very expensive. How much do you think four or five will cost? Or do I have to do the mortgage thing

[bilrus]

I have seen them in early summer at the Arlington farmers market and at Wegmans. Never bought them at Wegmans, but if I remember they were $16 or $17 for a small paper sack. That was a lot in terms of quantity - maybe 15 or 20. They're pretty lightweight mushrooms.

Those were the only shrooms I bought from the mushroom lady that I thought weren't all that great, but it may have been because it was her last bag that day.

[morela]

When I was a kid my dog and I found tons of them in the woods near where we lived in Glen Echo, off of Cabin John Parkway. The local mycology club knows...

~morela

[DonRocks]

When I was a kid my dog and I found tons of them in the woods near where we lived in Glen Echo, off of Cabin John Parkway.  The local mycology club knows...

~morela

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Wasn't your Congresswoman named Connie, morela?

[morela]

When I was a kid my dog and I found tons of them in the woods near where we lived in Glen Echo, off of Cabin John Parkway.  The local mycology club knows...

~morela

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Wasn't your Congresswoman named Connie, morela?

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Yes, Cornie Morella.

She wasn't down with mushrooms. 8th Dirstrict Corn, yes.

[Mark Sommelier]

You can buy dried morels. Many chefs prefer them. You can reconstitute them in a variety of liquids.

[stovetop]

I worked for this company back in the eighties, they are one of the first, they try to get the best morels you can find.

steve

mo-na foods

[Gastro888]

The farmer's market in Dupon Circle on Sundays and Arlington on Saturdays will have a vendor that sells morels in the springtime. Last time I bought some they were about 17 bucks for a small pint. Sometimes you'd get a small pint full of small morels or a couple of big honkin' ones. They were of better quality than the ones at Balducci's and Whole Paychecks.

[Monica Bhide]

This is why I love eG! Many thanks - Mark where do you get the dired ones? (By the way - I hope you will all benefit when I make this purchase... hint hint.. more to come)

[douginvirginia]

Monica,

As has been stated above, you'll need to by them dried at this time of year. When reconstituting, be sure to save and use the broth.

Morels will start to appear in April. They can be found in woods, escpecially under poplar and sycamore trees. As morela said, the Glen Echo - Great Falls stretch is a good place to hunt them. Talk a walk along the C&O canal, and venture into the woods between the canal and the river. Be sure the shrooms are hollow on the inside.

Out where I now live in the Shenandoah Valley, they're sometimes called Merkles by the old-timers. As in, "it's a merkle if you find any". Actually, when you find one you'll usually find a lot. I can usually fill a plastic grocery store bag in a couple of hours of "hunting".

Doug

[tomdc]

I would caution anyone who is not a mycologist or is not rummaging around with a mycologist, not to trust yourself to judge what is or is not a morel based on appearance. Way too dangerous.

[8Track]

I have found them at Whole Foods on Wisconsin -- both fresh and dried.

[saycheese]

We have found morels in season at the Whole Foods in Arlington and Annandale for about $24/lb., I think, but less expensive than at Dean & DeLuca. Sometimes they have little tiny white worms in them, however, so check carefully. I have been told that you should rinse/soak the morels in salted water or water & vinegar to get rid of the little pests. It's not something I like to think about.

[stovetop]

Morels are easy enough to find and identify, you must have a local mushroom book about the region you are in. I was just eighteen years when I picked morels, I was as green as you get, I was not a mycologist and most pickers here now on the coast of Vancouver island Canada are not mycologist, fear is our biggest enemy, stick with one mushroom, do not stray away from what you know, read the books from your area, maybe go out with an experienced person, learn and then you will be able to pick on your own, this is not rocket science here, it is just a wonderful mushroom called a morel, it is a beautiful thing; nothing like finding a big cash of mushrooms on a hillside, it is on of the most exciting things in food, but sometime you have been hiking in the pouring rain for hours almost lost then you think your eyes are deceiving you, rubbing them, you still see all on that hill.

Wow!

[Gastro888]

We have found morels in season at the Whole Foods in Arlington and Annandale for about $24/lb., I think, but less expensive than at Dean & DeLuca.  Sometimes they have little tiny white worms in them, however, so check carefully.  I have been told that you should rinse/soak the morels in salted water or water & vinegar to get rid of the little pests.  It's not something I like to think about.

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I soak my morels ever so briefly in salted water. Ain't eatin' a worm unless there's money involved.

[Fred]

I don't doubt that there are folks who know exactly what they are looking for when foraging for mushrooms but I would not suggest anyone who hasn't spent ample amounts of time learning about the various types of mushrooms that grow in this area, what's good to eat what's not attempt to forage on their own. I know of an entire family except on boy who died in VT when they ate the mushrooms they foraged. Nothing to mess around with.

[stovetop]

People die eating burgers to but they still eat burgers.

[Fred]

Well I can't argue with that logic, no matter how conveluted it is so I'll just provide some education:

____________________________________________________________________

False Morels (Helvella and Gyromitra spp.)

Helvella sp. Gyromitra caroliniana

False morels are difficult to treat in an article on edible and poisonous mushrooms, because they so clearly fit both categories.

On one hand, many people have enjoyed eating false morels for years and may even consider them a favorite wild mushroom. On the other, false morels have definitely caused serious illnesses and deaths in the United States.

The problem seems to involve the amount of a toxic chemical, called monomethyl hydrazine (MMH), present in these mushrooms. MMH causes diarrhea, vomiting and severe headaches, and occasionally it can be fatal. However, because of different cooking techniques and different individual sensitivities to MMH, false morels poison some people but leave others unaffected. In addition, false morels in some areas of the country contain more MMH than in other areas. All this makes these mushrooms a very doubtful group as far as edibility is concerned.

False morels have wrinkled, irregular caps that are brainlike or saddle-shaped. They may be black, gray, white, brown or reddish. (The "big red morel," Gyromitra caroliniana, common in Missouri, is a large false morel with a reddish cap.) Other names include elephant ears, Arkansas morels and brian mushrooms. Size 2" to 8" tall.

False morels differ from true morels in two obvious ways:

The cap surface has lobes, folds, flaps or wrinkles, but it does not have pits and ridges like a true morel. You might say their caps bulge outward instead of being pitted inward.

The bottom edge of the cap of a false morel hangs free around the stem, like a skirt. On true morels, the bottom edge of the cap is attached to the stem (see page 4).

False morels are found in spring, summer and fall, on the ground in woodlands.

Note: Because these mushrooms have definitely caused deaths, we cannot recommend that you eat them. If you nevertheless choose to do so, they should be thoroughly cooked in a well-ventilated room, since MMH is driven off by heat.

[JPW]

People die eating burgers to but they still eat burgers.

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False logic.

Are you butchering the cow yourself? How can you tell if it has mad cow or not?

Along the way for meat, the FDA has (far from perfect) guidelines and procedures to ensure food safety.

In the case of wild mushroom gathering, there are no pros looking over your shoulder.

So, I think the good advice remains - learn what you're doing before you go.

[jml3]

I saw dried morels at Balducci's on Old Georgetown Road yesterday - for $189 (that's not a typo) a pound. But it takes lots of dried mushrooms to add up to a pound!

[stovetop]

Well I can't argue with that logic, no matter how conveluted it is so I'll just provide some education:

Sorry, I just have a hard time being in fear in life, I meant that people died eating hamburgers that were contaminated with bacteria, in nature this bactreia or poison also exists, it is just part of life, we can hide in our homes because of fear or we can learn about the mushrooms, I am glad that more info is being brought up and I appologize for my conveluted direction rather then explaining the way you did.

Sometimes my passion gets the better of me.

steve

[Fred]

No worries, I'm sure no one here would walk out into their backyard and start picking/eating the first fungus they see.

Happy New Year.