For mushroom lovers, it's morel season April 23, 2010 - thestarpress.com
Cautiously placing each step with vigilant eyes to the ground, alternating crawling with rapid stillness, ceaselessly remaining mindful of vegetation, terrain and conditions, hunters fill the woods embracing the "magic moment."
"You've got to have the elements just right -- right heat, right moisture," said Doug Lusch, a truck driver and morel mushroom-hunting enthusiast. "You're looking for that magic moment. It's fun to get out there and find them like that."
Like a silent roar, audible only to those in tune to the art of mushroom hunting, morel season pops up less than a month annually.
"Once we find that first one, we're ready for getting down on our knees," Jesse Gunter, 27, of Muncie said. "It's an adrenaline rush when you find them."
Morel mushrooms -- and their enthusiasts -- can be found in 50 states and all continents, save Antarctica, according to morelmania.com web master Tom Nauman.
"The thrill of the hunt and the flavor of the morel are what drive 'morel maniacs'," said Nauman, whose website, devoted to morels since 1995, logged more than six-million hits in spring 2009.
While some remain oblivious to the sanctity of the hunt and the meal "morel maniacs" embrace, devotion runs deep. So deep, Joe Lukens said, it's inherent.
"Oh, it's in your blood," said Lukens, a 45-year mushroom hunter. "Growing up you go with mom and dad, grandma and grandpa. ... It was brought on from when we landed at Plymouth Rock."
Morel season begins at varying times throughout, but according to Muncie-Delaware county hunters Lukens, Lusch and Gunter, the window for discovery runs from the second week of April through May.
"You have a three- to four-week window to find them. As soon as we know they're up, we start going out every day," said Gunter, a landscaper and part-time construction worker, and a mushroom hunter since he was 5 years old.
And, once the bounty begins to rain, the question arises: What do you do with them?
Fry 'em and eat 'em
"A lot of people sell them; we like to fry 'em and eat 'em," said Gunter.
"For those who've never tried them, the taste of morels compared to the mushrooms bought at the grocery store is like comparing steak to cardboard," said Nauman.
"I sauté mine; a little garlic salt, butter, olive oil -- and look out!" Lukens said with a shrill of excitement. "You can't buy a meal that good. It ought to be illegal, it's so good."
According to Gunter, several restaurants and vendors are in search of the coveted morels for expensive dishes.
"Last season, we had some left over. My brother and I took five pounds to Vera Mae's and they bought 'em."
Dave Franklin, catering and banquets manager for Vera Mae's Bistro, said they like to buy the morels to add to their already-unique offering.
"There are certain products that are only good sometimes during the year. The nice thing about morels is you only have a couple weeks out of the year you can get them," Franklin said. "They're a nice delicate mushroom, and when we get them, they're gone in a couple days -- I mean gone."
Franklin said Vera Mae's mainly holds to cooking the morels to embrace their unique flavor, sautéed and/or fried in butter.
Morel hunters employ numerous tactics, while searching in and around a plethora of locales.
"I go through a woods; when I see a gigantic black ash, I run to it," said Lukens. "Black ash -- the bigger the tree the better, ... big yellow morels."
"We look for dead fallen oak trees; we always find them around them," Gunter said. "Valleys in the forest; I've found them around cherry blossom trees, too. ... We try to go to dense forests; they grow a lot more in a dense forest."
Lusch said the best thing is to just be observant.
"I've been walking and looked down and, by god, there's one right by my foot. It's like they're popping up while you're standing there."
False hopes
One obstacle to morel hunting is the occurrence of finding "false" morels or poisonous mushrooms resembling the coveted "true" morels.
"It's best to go with someone who knows what they're doing or go to the library and see the pictures, see what they are picking," said Lusch. "You don't want to eat something wrong. That'll end your hunting career."
According to Nauman, edible morel mushrooms have pits in their cone, rather than ridges or folds, they are also always hollow and should never be picked if they look to be decaying, even if they are "true" morels.
Luken said the distinct differences are enough to tell but, when in doubt, go with someone who knows what they are doing.
"There's just no mistaking them. But, it's better to be left alone than take a chance," Lukens said.
A veteran of not only morel hunting but everything outdoors, Lukens said wild mushrooms add to his perfect meal.
"If I have some deer tenderloins, bluegills and fresh morels, that's my poor man's surf and turf," he said. "It'll make your tongue beat the hell of the roof of your mouth."
Without humidity, rain and consistent warm weather -- all essential for morels -- Lukens said this week with the weather shifting in his favor, the bounty could be impressive.
"This year (weather) could make blacks, yellows and grays. The whole shootin' match may come up at once."
==
Morel 'hot-spots': # Dense wooded areas # Near dead trees (elm, ash, cherry) # Valleys/ditches # Orchards # Near or around large rocks
Morel-hunting tips: # Wild morel mushrooms or morcella fungi have spores; hunters gather in woven bags/sacks (potato/onion/orange bags) to spread the morel spores. # Be mindful of your surroundings. Only hunt on public land or elsewhere with permission.
Places to look in/around Muncie: # Summit Lake State Park, 5993 N. Messick Rd. # Prairie Creek Reservoir, 5 miles southeast of Muncie # Wilbur Wright State Wildlife, 2239 N. Ind. 103
Information provided by: Rick Garringer, Indiana conservation officer
Beware of 'false' morels! "True" morels should be distinguished from poisonous "false" morels. Here are a few tips to noticing the difference: # The morel has true pits and ridges rather than wrinkles or folds. # The morel is always completely hollow -- both cap and stem. # The stems of morels connect to the base of the caps for two types of morels and half-way up the cap for the third variety (half-free morel).
Information provided by: Tom Nauman, http://morelmania.com
|