The best delicacy that the West has to offer is the morel mushroom.
If you’ve never eaten one, then you don’t know what you’re missing. One of my old bosses was from Iowa and he’s the one who taught me how to hunt for them. According to him, they have a lot over there. I don’t know how many states have them. I’ve seen them in Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska and Idaho.
You need to take an old-timer with you the first few times you go. You don’t want to make a mistake and eat the angel of death! There are quite a few species that are edible. But I only know a couple so I just stick with them. I took a class and the instructor told us that when we had finished we’d be comfortable picking at least 10 species. I must have flunked because I still haven’t expanded.
I hear back East they have some false morels that look like ours and you can’t eat them. So if you go pick elsewhere, know what you’re doing.
Where I hunt, the mushrooms come out the second week of May. That varies with temperature and moisture. I went up recently baiting for bears and then went mushroom hunting. Perfect timing. I found 252 in 2 to 3 hours. All were in prime shape other than the edges on two. It started snowing pretty hard and before noon many of them were frozen. I’ve never picked them in that type of weather.
I’ve heard for years all types of clues as to where you find them, but I don’t know any hard-fast rules. Everyone says look by old logs, by firs and on and on they go. I find them where they are. I’ve got one grassy hillside that has a good crop every year. Why would they be growing on a grassy hillside? Puzzling.
But if you find a good spot, go back every year. Where I went the other day I find them in the same spot every year. It was the best ever there. I found a lot of clumps, and they were bigger than ever this year.
I don’t think that you can walk slow enough. I found over 100 in one small area, probably 30x30 yards. After picking for a while, I sat down to eat. While eating, I spotted one 8 inches from my toe and then seven more within 10 feet.
But the absolute best place to find them is in the spring after last year’s forest fires. Katy and I have picked 5-gallon buckets full in fire areas. They’re magical. We’ve had two bucketfuls each and cannot carry anymore.
All the real mushroom pickers will tell you to use a mesh bag so the spores can fall out. They also carry a knife to cut them off the stem.
PREPARING THEM
Put them in a bowl and gently rinse off the bugs and dirt. Then slice them in half and place in a bowl of water and sprinkle on salt to kill the bugs. My old boss recommended leaving them in the fridge overnight, but I start eating them right away. You know, the old “bugs are full of protein” theory.
To cook them, mix a few eggs and a little milk and dip them in it. Then roll in flour and throw in a Lodge cast iron skillet that has 1/2-inch of hot grease in it. Sprinkle with Tony Chachere’s seasoning and fry to a golden brown.
I cannot tell you how good they are. They’re the best food in the world. Tonight, I fried up some elk steaks and made milk gravy with morels sautéed in it and then fried some mushrooms. Cook twice as many as you think that you can eat.
PRESERVING EXTRA
If you’re lucky enough to find more than you can eat in a few days, there are a few ways to preserve them.
- I’ve rinsed them clean and frozen them in baggies, but they’re kinda soggy.
- The best way is to slice them in half (or not) and dry them on your fruit dryer.
- A buddy of mine runs a needle and thread through them and hangs them up to dry; the commercial pickers lay them on racks to dry in the sun.
Happy picking!
Tom Claycomb lives in Idaho and has outdoors columns in newspapers in Alaska, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Colorado and Louisiana. He also writes for various outdoors magazines and teaches outdoors seminars at stores like Cabela’s, Sportsman’s Warehouse and Bass Pro Shop.
