OK it's Morel season, people. Should be appearing at Farmers Markets, Whole Foods and other prime locations. Whose spotted any and what was their price? Anyone gone hunting for some ?-- at least one member of this Board has -- er M. Gastreaux?

If memory serves me right....

DCMark is a big shroom hunter.

Spotted some at the Dupont market yesterday. $20 for a basket. Looked very good, but too rich for my budget.

Wegman's had them last weekend for $49.99 a pound. Not cheap (although I don't know how that comares to the $20/bag).

But they were very good and you have the ability to pick your own out of the basket as opposed to just getting what's in the bag. I bought a bag at the Arlington market last year and there were some great looking oneas and some ragged looking ones. At Wegman's I was able to pick 4 ounces of nice, uniform sized specimens.

The "mushroom lady" at the Del Ray Farmers' Market has beautiful morels. They were $20 for a pint-container size.

Don't buy 'em, find 'em. I found over 150 huge blond morels on Saturday. Almost filled a grocery sack.

You wouldn't care to give us a little hint where you were looking would you?

Look under newly dead elm trees.

Yeah, but what state were you in

A state that begins with "M."

Back home (in Northern California) we'd head out to the forest and wander around in the areas that had burned the previous summer in forest fires. The re must have been millions of morels. We would fill 50 gallons sacks full in about an hour, and would just end up giving away hundreds of the tasty buggers. I never knew they were a 'delicacy' until I came east! I thought they were "peasant" food!

CAREFUL PEOPLE! This is not an incitement to commit arson in one of our State Parks.

Two different vedors at the DuPont market had morels this past weekend. A small box (pint?) went for around $20.

..........oh.

I'm still not very good with these sorts of estimates: A pint of mushrooms will get you pretty far, right? I've really got to get some morels this season. Missed out last year.

I think a pint of fresh morels should be sufficient to make a whole lot of sauce, or a number of pizzas, or a ton of duxelles (sp?) which you could then freeze. In other words a pint would go a long way.

I'm no expert, but I would guess that the "season" in this part of the country is over.

Morels are in forest waiting for you; interested?

I've decided to spend some time each weekend in the following month searching for Morels. Does anyone have good suggestions they wouldn't mind sharing of where to look?

According to my research they grow well in this area April 15th to March 15th and are most commonly found under "Tulip Poplar" trees.

Problem is most people who hunt mushrooms are so seceritive, they don't want to share there spots with a rookie hunter.

Ideas?

I hear that cow pastures are often sought after spots for specific varieties

Yep.

Does this area have any mushroom hunting tours? Maybe you could check out www.mawdc.org if you haven't already.

That's a good one.

Yeah, I've been to one of their meetings and a bit info overload..but not a bad idea...thanks for the words of wisdom

Found this on another website, from last year:

April 12th, 2005: CC&C, morel - general location: Fairfax County, virginia. Growing Conditions: creekside hardwood forest.
Additional Comments: We found 20 black morels in our favorite spot in less than an hour. The first ones of the year and very fresh.
http://morelmushroomhunting.com/archives_january2005.htm

I have never looked for them either but decided to give it a try this year.

Thanks for the link!

Last year Mr. S bought me a book about wild mushrooms, and I'd been thinking it would be fun to go looking for some.

I wonder what's out in the woods behind my house . . . .

I took a look in the woods behind my own house earlier today. Nothing. There are a couple of parks nearby that are densely wooded, will try those tomorrow.

After googling some more it does appear that the third week in April is the traditional week for the Fairfax area, so there's still time.

If I don't find any nearby will try one of the many parks that are near the Potomac this weekend.

for a spendthrift foolish enough to shell out $28 for a dozen precious morels, what is the best way to clean them, assuming that the farmer's advice to soak them in salt water should be ignored? i am thinking of doing no more than giving them a hard look-over and a shake or two, if no small insects have inhabited them. does anyone know?

Why assume this advice should be ignored? Sounds perfectly reasonable to me, if you're just soaking them for a few minutes.

its true; i believe the "dont soak mushrooms in water, they are a sponge and will lose all flavor" is in fact a myth.

okay, this cinches it. i am going to do what the farmer says and soak them. actually, this is probably not the first time i have soaked morels. but still, you wouldn't do this to clean most other mushrooms (because they don't need it), would you?

morels especially because sand and grit can get in the crevices. when you soak them, put them in a colander and put the colander in a bowl.fill up with water and agitate shrooms. let them sit a few minutes until grit settles then drain and repeat if necesarry until greit is all gone.

Late last night, I was watching Alton Brown on Food Network, and he disproved the myth that mushrooms absorb a lot of water if you wash them, by weighing 4 oz. of button mushrooms after they had soaked for ten minutes, and noting that they had gained very little in weight (1/4 oz.).
Of course morels, with all of their convolutions and folds could trap water, and so should be well drained after soaking. But you'll never get out all the little bugs and dirt if you don't clean them as suggested above.

Found over a dozen this past weekend, made for a tasty lunch treats!!!! One of 'em was 5" tall!!!!! I'm considering skipping out on work and doing some more hunting.

Found 'em by great falls on the maryland side

Years ago, if I remember correctly, I read that the Mycological Society in DC
was quite active. The problem is that they are interested in all kinds of fungi, including
the inedible and the poisonous. All the "oh, that one will kill you!" talk might be
off putting.

They do have a web site:

fungi

http://www.morels.com/maryland/

A chat board for local area morel hunters

Are the morels "peaking" or "peeking" out?

I found a couple of white morels yesterday while walking my dog in the park near my home in DC. Not enough to turn cartwheels over, but there are probably more there if I can spend some more time searching. Didn't see any ramps. though.

zoramargolis,

Good site. Can't believe what I'm reading people are finding 5-6 dozen morels in one spot...though unfortunately, no one is saying exactly where....grrhhhh!

May 12 City Paper on morels.

(author no relation)

The text at the end of the article got corrupted--it was almost as if the author had ingested a hallucinogenic mushroom and kept on writing...

I wonder if that area around fessenden and nebraska has them? And, how long is the season, anyway? Isn't it over soon? I went hiking in the shenandoahs and expected to find them everywhere last weekend, and found none. What's the first thing I did wrong?

Did you hike a well travelled trail? You probably need to head off the beaten path as regular hunters will probably pick all that they could find.

the first thing you did wrong was to expect to find them. i used to know fairly precise spots where they grew on a friend's property at the base of the western side of massanutten mountain near new market, va., yet some springs they were nowhere. you also need a trained eye, and sometimes more. they do like to hide from you and are not always out in the open. this is the only wild mushroom i can gather my family will eat, having heard too much about the unfortunate consequences of mycological misidentification. (oops, and ouch, i believe i have further damaged my liver!)

Morels are finicky and elusive. They only grow in certain spots and if you find a spot where they will grow, the custom is to remember where it is and to not tell anyone about it. They likely will be in the same spot next year. They are very hard to see but if you find one, you likely will find more nearby.

Last year's: Click to view attachment

i have never before seen a harvest of morels of this expanse. you make it look too easy.

WOW!

I partook of a mushroom hunting 'class' a few years ago and it was interesting and fun. Never did find a mushroom I could eat yet though. For those of you who've found morels, picked and consumed them bravo to you.

As for them liking tulip poplars, this is correct. I actually have planted a tulip poplar in my yard in the hopes that in 20-30 years I will have my own source in my own back yard.

They do? Damn, I should look in my yard as I have a bunch of these trees back in the woods that have been there for years.

I was looking for 'shrooms today in Battery Kemble while walking the dog and meself. I only found a couple of pleurots (oyster mushrooms), but came home with a few other foraged goodies:
A large bunch of lambs quarters
About a pound of tiny, ripe Queen Anne cherries from a very old, neglected cherry tree (I am tempted to call this tree "feral" because it has obviously been surviving in the wild for many years).
A small bagful of ripe mulberries--there are lots of mulberry trees at the upper end of the park, loaded with not-yet ripe berries.
No sign of more Morels where we found a couple, three weeks ago. Looks like there is going to be another bumper crop of wineberries--those usually ripen in early July.

So we had an amazing dinner at Craftbar on Friday. The highlight was morels with a roasted leg of lamb. They tasted like they were sauted in the world's most perfect butter.

Isent Mr. BLB to DuPont this morning and he found a box for $20.

Now what do I do with them? What is the shelf life? Should I cook them tonight or can I wait until tomorrow? I'm on the train now and would rather wait but not if they won't hold up well!

Thanks!

Jennifer

Contrary to the advice posters above have offered, a pint of morels is not really that many. I've seen the baskets of them for sale at Dupont. I think you have one nice meal for two people, there. You can keep them for several days in the refrigerator. Just don't put them in plastic. Keep them in a paper bag. If they are in good shape, keep most of them whole. If you've got some wtih crumbly stalks, chop those up, but when you've paid that much for a mushroom, I say see keep them whole so you can see and taste what you have. What I would do is go out and buy some really nice veal rib chops, sear and then finish in the oven and serve with sauteed morels with some chopped shallot and cream and deglaze the meat pan with some marsala or sherry and add to the mushrooms. Sprinkle with some chopped fresh chervil or tarragon. That's what I would do if I had a $20 basket of morels.

From the Washington Post Thursday Home section: After the Rains, a Mushroom Boom