The Anticipation Builds

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SFJoe

Joe Dougherty
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Spring_2009_someones_sierra_morels.jpg
 
The scorched tree branches are a good clue in the pic.

We found some last week on top of Chuckanut Mtn only 10 minutes from home.
My dog nearly went over a cliff while I was mushroom picking, but it all worked out well in the end.
 
originally posted by Marc D:
The scorched tree branches are a good clue in the pic.
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Since you're a savvy reader of the woods, I'll share a pic of something I'd never seen before:

Spring_2009_morel_in_redwoods.jpg
A prize for the first to recognize the unusual element here.
 
Last week a friend dropped off a quart bag stuffed with morels. Nice guy! His mom lives in Kansas and claims there are fields of them growing right now. So far in New York I have found 0.

Are those morels growing in spruce?
 
originally posted by Kay Bixler:
Last week a friend dropped off a quart bag stuffed with morels. Nice guy! His mom lives in Kansas and claims there are fields of them growing right now. So far in New York I have found 0.

Are those morels growing in spruce?
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Out here in our corner of flyover country, we're still a week or two away from morel season (yeah, I know, different species -- oh, well) and still have to rely on those coming in from Ky. On the positive side, fiddlehead ferns are plentiful at the mo.

Mark Lipton
 
originally posted by Steve Edmunds:
originally posted by Lou Kessler:
MorelsMorels under pine trees?
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Fir, ain't it?
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It's coastal redwood, which is weird. Morels typically like a hard freeze, and redwoods don't, so they are not usually found together. I generalize a bit, but not much.
 
I've heard decent things about the David Arora books- (All That the Rain Promises; Mushrooms Demystified). I've been meaning to pick those up and head out hiking (and confining myself to picking/eating the obvious/safe-for-newbie types until I can hook up w/ some more experienced folks).

Any other opinions on field guides, videos, clubs/classes, etc?

(edited to brag: I do have my grandfather's eye for 4-leaf clovers, at least- found 11 of 'em on a stroll this week and 6 last week. He was the all-time champ, though, and a great forager- but I didn't get a chance to learn the lore before he was gone.)
 
originally posted by Seth Hill:
Any opinions or suggestions?I've heard decent things about the David Arora books- (All That the Rain Promises; Mushrooms Demystified). I've been meaning to pick those up and head out hiking (and confining myself to picking/eating the obvious/safe-for-newbie types until I can hook up w/ some more experienced folks).

Any other opinions on field guides, videos, clubs/classes, etc?

(edited to brag: I do have my grandfather's eye for 4-leaf clovers, at least- found 11 of 'em on a stroll this week and 6 last week. He was the all-time champ, though, and a great forager- but I didn't get a chance to learn the lore before he was gone.)
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Arora's books are excellent, but have a bit of a West Coast bias. I would not eat anything at all until you have ID confirmed by someone who really knows, and that you're sure what you're excluding from your differential diagnosis.

Gary Lincoff's books are not as witty as Arora's, but may cover the east better.

Join a mycological society.
 
originally posted by SFJoe:

Arora's books are excellent, but have a bit of a West Coast bias. I would not eat anything at all until you have ID confirmed by someone who really knows, and that you're sure what you're excluding from your differential diagnosis.

Gary Lincoff's books are not as witty as Arora's, but may cover the east better.

Join a mycological society.
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Thanks for the pointer to Lincoff.

To be clear, I wouldn't have touched anything that wasn't labeled as "Can't mistake / 100% sure" by a peer-reviewed authority in a guide, and will take the "someone who really knows" to mean advice from a real, live expert companion. Since you're the biggest authority I know on such matters, you trump any book's advice!

Do you have any pointers to folks / societies around here? Boston Mycological Club seems to be the one that pops up in the press & Google results.
 
just look for the red ones with white dots.......and watch out for the reindeer when you take a leak after ingesting

just kidding

SFJoe, have you ever done a side by side tasting of west coast matsutakes and Japanese matsutakes? One would think the "terroir" would show pretty clearly.
 
originally posted by Joel Stewart:
just look for the red ones with white dots.......and watch out for the reindeer when you take a leak after ingesting

just kidding

SFJoe, have you ever done a side by side tasting of west coast matsutakes and Japanese matsutakes? One would think the "terroir" would show pretty clearly.
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I'm pretty sure that they are different species, so we can't isolate terroir as a variable.

I've eaten many US matsutake, but never a Japanese one.
 
oh, i didn't realize that.....i've never seen any in the US myself, only the Japanese and Korean ones in the markets here in Kyoto the fall (the latter being considerably cheaper)....beautiful, and quite large, but as you know, pricey. plenty of other (cultivated) shrooms here however, which delight.

back to morels, do you have a favorite recipe for fresh ones?
 
On the simple (if rich) side, they are tasty sauteed and pureed with a little cream, then spread on crostini.

I'm quite fond of Engish pea and morel risotto.

I like them as the basis of a pan sauce for salmon, too.

I've stuffed them with pureed fava beans, which was fun but perhaps not worth the effort.

I think they have great potential for pairing with salsify, but haven't been satisfied with anything I've tried.
 
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