Our old buddy Jack Sweet told my wife Katy and I that morel mushrooms are the second-best fungi in the world, second only to the truffle in England. I have never tasted a truffle, but morels are the best food in the world that I’ve ever tasted. If you haven’t ever picked them, then you’re missing out on the best food the outdoors have to offer.
If you don’t know what you’re doing, though, take an old timer with you the first season. Because if you accidentally pick the angel of death, well, let’s just say that you and God had better be pretty good friends.
Years ago, I thought, "You know, it’s crazy that I only feel safe picking one species of mushrooms. I spend all that time hunting and hiking around for them. Why not be able to identify three or four edible species?" So I took a class. But I’m still not comfortable, so I just pick two species.
But take heart, morels are easy to identify out West. (I hear that there are some false morels back East that you don’t want to eat.) I don’t know how many states have morels but quite a few do. Back in Nebraska and Iowa, picking morels is a big deal, according to one of my old bosses, but theirs come in season near the first to middle of April. Ours don’t come in season until the middle of May. And I went hunting today and only found one. So next weekend it should be show time.
Places that were good last year should be good this year. And last year's forest fire areas are magical. I’ve filled up two 5-gallon buckets in a short amount of time in forest fire zones. So last year's burns are the absolute No. 1 spot to hunt.
I’ve hunted morels for 39 years, so you’d think I could tell you where to be successful, but sorry, I can’t. I have a good spot that is just ever so slightly a depression and it has scattered skunk weed. But not all such spots even in that same locale have them.
Everyone tells you to look around old logs. Well I have news for you. There are a lot of old logs laying around in the woods and not all of them have morels. In fact, hardly any of them do. Today the only one that I found was just sitting by itself in the middle of a semi grassy spot in the woods. Nothing special. So it seems like they’re where they are.
But the general rule of thought is that when it finally starts warming up, and we get a shower, that triggers them to pop up. It was warm today, so I thought they’d be out but it’s just a hair too early.
The hardcore pickers admonish you to carry a cloth (open type of weave) bag to carry your freshly picked mushrooms in. This allows the spores to fall out. They also use a knife to clip them off at the ground so the root stays to help spread spores. At the La Grande gun show this year, I met Lars Hansen from Pendleton. He sells some cool Scandinavian knives, one of which is very unique. It is a mushroom knife and has a bristle brush on the hilt of the handle to dust off the dirt. It is a super cool knife and the handle is made out of reindeer horns and the sheath is made out of reindeer leather. You have to get one of these if you want to be a cool mushroom picker.
Morels are weather dependent, triggered by the temp and moisture. In talking to a lady once at the Forest Service office, she asked me if I had ever taken a temp of the dirt. No. Hmmm, maybe a good idea.
The surest bet is to go the Forest Service office or online and ask them where there were forest fires last year. There will be millions there. Look alongside, almost underneath logs laying on the ground. Nearly a guarantee that burned-out stump holes will have them. I think because they hold more moisture.
I’ve never marked one to see exactly how long they last before they deteriorate and start crumbling but I’m going to say only a few days. You want them to be firm and not crumbly.
There are a million ways to cook them but my favorite method is to crack a couple of eggs in a bowl and splash in a little milk. Pre-cut the morels lengthwise and soak in salted water in the fridge overnight to kill the bugs (although I always cook up a batch the first night).
After dipping in the egg mixture, roll in flour and throw in a hot skillet. When getting golden brown flip, brown the other side and then pull them out and wolf them down. While cooking, I sprinkle them with original Tony Chachere’s seasoning.
So when this weekend hits, get out there. But stay outta my spots!
Tom Claycomb lives in Idaho and has outdoors columns in newspapers in Alaska, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Colorado and Louisiana.
