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Morel
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Morchella, the true morels, is a genus of edible mushrooms closely related to anatomically simpler cup fungi. These distinctive mushrooms appear honeycomb-like in that the upper portion is composed of a network of ridges with pits between them.
These ascocarps are prized by gourmet cooks, particularly for French cuisine. Commercial value aside, morels are hunted by thousands of people every year simply for their taste and the joy of the hunt.
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Encyclopedia
Morchella, the true morels, is a genus of edible mushrooms closely related to anatomically simpler cup fungi. These distinctive mushrooms appear honeycomb-like in that the upper portion is composed of a network of ridges with pits between them.
These ascocarps are prized by gourmet cooks, particularly for French cuisine. Commercial value aside, morels are hunted by thousands of people every year simply for their taste and the joy of the hunt. Morels have been called by many local names; some of the more colorful include dryland fish, due to their similarity in taste to fish, or hickory chickens, as they are known in many parts of Kentucky; and merkels or miracles, based on a story of how a mountain family was saved from starvation by eating morels. Other common names for morels include sponge mushroom and molly moocher.
Phylogeny
The fruit bodies of the Morchella are highly polymorphic in appearance, exhibiting variations in shape, color and size; this has contributed to uncertainties regarding taxonomy. Some authors suggest that the genus only contains as few as 3 to 6 species, while others place up to 50 species in the genus. Phylogenetic analysis based on both RFLP and restriction enzyme analysis of the 28S ribosomal RNA gene support the former hypothesis, i.e., that the genus comprises only a few species with considerable phenotypic variation.
Location of morels
Morels grow abundantly in the two and sometimes three years immediately following a forest fire. However, where fire suppression is practiced, they may grow regularly in small amounts in the same spot year after year. Commercial pickers and buyers in North America will follow forest fires to gather morels. The Finnish name, huhtasieni, refers to huhta, area cleared for agriculture by slash and burn method. These spots may be jealously guarded by mushroom pickers, as the mushrooms are a delicacy and sometimes a cash crop.
Although no symbiotic relationships have been proven between morels and certain tree species, experienced morel hunters swear by these relationships. Trees commonly associated with morels include ash, sycamore, tulip tree, dead and dying elms, cottonwoods and old apple trees (remnants of orchards). Yellow morels (Morchella esculenta) are more commonly found under deciduous trees rather than conifers, but black morels (Morchella elata) can be found in coniferous forests, especially spruce or pine.
Morels have not yet been successfully farmed on a large scale, and the commercial morel industry is largely based on harvest of wild mushrooms.
Cooking
Morels are a feature of many cuisines, including Provençal. Though morels are typically sold dried or canned, they can be purchased fresh. When preparing fresh morels for consumption, soaking them may ruin their delicate flavor. Due to their natural porousness, morels may contain trace amounts of soil which cannot be washed out. One of the best and simplest ways to enjoy morels is by gently sauteeing them in butter, cracking pepper on top and sprinkling with salt.
Many people dry out the morels for long term storage. When they are ready to eat them, they simply soak the morels until they reabsorb moisture. Often, these mushroooms are not nearly as good to eat as if they were fresh. Also, eggs from moths or insects can hatch during storage. Other people freeze or can their mushrooms.
Types of morel mushrooms
The best known morels are the Yellow Morel or Common Morel (Morchella esculenta); the White Morel (M. deliciosa); and the Black Morel (M. elata). Other species of true morels include M. semilibera and M. vulgaris. Discriminating between the various species is complicated by uncertainty regarding which species are truly biologically distinct. Mushroom hunters refer to them by their color (e.g., gray, yellow, black) as the species are very similar in appearance and vary considerably within species and age of individual.
When gathering morels, care must be taken to distinguish them from the poisonous false morel (Gyromitra esculenta and others).
Toxicity
Morels contain small amounts of toxins that are usually removed by thorough cooking; morel mushrooms should never be eaten raw. It has been reported that even cooked morels can sometimes cause mild poisoning symptoms when consumed with alcohol.
Genus Morchella is derived from "morchel," an old German word for mushroom. There are about a dozen different kinds of morels but they seem to cross, making exact identification very difficult without a microscope. It is important to try small amounts of any edible mushroom, and only eat ones that are clean and free of decay.
Early Morels
Verpa Bohemica are also called wrinkled thimble cap, or early morel, and Ptychoverpa Bohemica. Although the early false morels are sometimes eaten without ill effect, they can cause severe gastrointestinal upset and loss of muscular coordination (including cardiac muscle) if eaten in large quantities or over several days in a row. They should be parboiled and dried before use in cooking to break down a gyromitrin-like toxin (an organic, carcinogenic poison) that is produced by the mushroom.
The early false morels can be told apart from the true morels by careful study of how the cap is attached to the stalk. The edge of true morels' (morchella) caps are intergrown with the stalk, but early morels' (verpas) caps hang over like a thimble, for which they are sometimes referred to as "thimble morel". Early false morels are the first morels to fruit in the spring, shortly after leaves begin to form on deciduous trees. Narrow-head morels (morchella angusticeps) fruit next, around May. The last morels to fruit are the yellow or white morels (Morchella esculenta), then crassipes.
Cap: the cap of false morels is wrinkled and irregular, bell shaped or cone shaped, attached only at apex (top) of cap not like true morels which have caps that are attached at the bottom, the color yellow brown to olive yellow or tan, darkens with age.
Stalk: 6-16cm high, white to creamy or tan, hollow, often stuffed with white cottony pith.
Spores when seen under a microscope are elliptical and have large oil droplets; true morels have no oil droplets.
See also
External links
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- from National Public Radio
Further reading
- Harvesting Morels After Wildfire in Alaska. Wurtz et al. USDA Forest Service Research Note PNW-RN-546, February 2005
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