By Katherine Brynjolfson, published July 1st, 2022
Walk past someone at the park or on a trail in spring who, armed with bags and determination, seems to be searching the ground intently for something, and you might find yourself wondering what exactly they are doing. Looking out of place, though, is not the kind of thing that will keep a mushroom hunter from their objective: the desirable yet elusive morel.
But what actually is a morel? A fungus with a dark brown or “blond” fruiting body and peculiarly honeycomb-like, pitted appearance, the morel is considered one of the most desirable of the edible fungi. Its nutty flavour and relative scarcity—morels are notoriously difficult to cultivate—bring it fame far and wide and drive demand across the world. From fancy pastas to fried in butter on their own, morels offer a mouthwatering alternative to store bought button mushrooms. Every spring, chefs and nature enthusiasts alike rejoice at the prospect of fresh morels as hordes of both recreational and commercial pickers flock to suspected morel patches to partake in the harvest
Morels are a bit different than many other choice species. Often, mushroom hunters can rely on knowledge of a “spot”, or a specific area where they’ve found a certain species in the past, to continue finding that same fungus each year. Morels, according to Dr. Diana Bizecki Robson, curator of botany at the Manitoba Museum, don’t play by these same rules. See, some fungi are mycorrhizal; they form long-term symbiotic relationships with specific plants, often trees, and will continue to fruit in the same areas year after year. For example, the well-loved matsutake (pine mushroom) is a delicious edible that has a mycorrhizal association with pine trees. Find matsutake once and you are likely to find them growing around the same area the next year. Other fungi are parasitic, and feed on other living organisms—corn smut is an example of a parasitic fungus that grows on corn, and is in fact considered a delicacy by many.
Morels, though, are mainly saprotrophic, meaning that they consume dead organic material. Next to whole, living trees, “dead organic material” doesn’t sound very stationary or long lasting, does it? What the morel organism feeds on, the “substrate” as it is called, is not a sustainable source of food, and so so, as Rosi Hunter of Vancouver Mycological Society says, “Morels (…) don’t stick around more than 1 or 2 years in the same place, so even once you find some, you are not likely to find them again.” As a result, morels can become much more difficult to find than other species.
So, how do you find morels? Well, according to Gary Garth and Matt Every of Outdoor Life, morels tend to fruit in disturbed areas—in recently upturned land, garden beds, clear cuts, and most notably burn sites. They also favour areas near certain dying or dead trees, notably elm, cottonwood, ash, and fruit trees—though it should be noted that orchards often use pesticides that may make morels there unsafe to eat. And, when in the process of searching for morels in a given area, one problem persists: these mushrooms blend in exceptionally well with their environment. Many a mushroom hunter might pass a morel by, thinking it is only a pinecone or clump of dirt without ever realising their loss. Examine potential areas thoroughly and in depth rather than quickly looking them over, and you might be rewarded for your efforts.
And for when to look? According to Bill Bakaitis, the blossoming of lilac and apple trees is one good way to mark the beginning of the morel season. An even better indicator that morels have begun to pop up, however, isn't something you'll find in nature: online posts. Yes! Scouring online foraging forums is a great way to track the progress of the morel season--and that of other fungi as well. Once others in your area have begun posting that they've found morels, it's safe to say that the time is right to head out in search of your own.
As with all mushrooms, it is imperative to learn to identify the correct mushroom as well as possible lookalikes. I won’t go into much detail here as there are many more resources at your disposal, but morels only really have one lookalike, aptly named the false morel, which looks rather more “brainy” than honeycombed and appears cotton-y when cut open (true morels are hollow). In addition, as with all foraging practices, check that you are not in a Provincial Park, or on private property (without permission from the owner), and take precautions against poisonous plants and ticks you may encounter while foraging. Finally, know that as with many wild mushrooms, morels must be well cooked before they can be eaten. If prepared improperly, morels can cause gastrointestinal distress, which of course is the last thing you want after going through all that effort to find the morels. Some people may experience adverse effects if they have an allergy to morels, which is why it’s generally a good idea to only try a little the first time you eat them.
As with all mushrooms, it is imperative to learn to identify the correct mushroom as well as possible lookalikes. I won’t go into much detail here as there are many more resources at your disposal, but morels only really have one lookalike, aptly named the false morel, which looks rather more “brainy” than honeycombed and appears cotton-y when cut open (true morels are hollow). In addition, as with all foraging practices, check that you are not in a Provincial Park, or on private property (without permission from the owner), and take precautions against poisonous plants and ticks you may encounter while foraging. Finally, know that as with many wild mushrooms, morels must be well cooked before they can be eaten. If prepared improperly, morels can cause gastrointestinal distress, which of course is the last thing you want after going through all that effort to find the morels. Some people may experience adverse effects if they have an allergy to morels, which is why it’s generally a good idea to only try a little the first time you eat them.
That’s about all! If you’d like to try your hand at morels, be sure to check out more resources, as there is much more in-depth information available on the web and in print than what I have given. Don’t be discouraged if you find none; morels are tricky, and can elude novice and experienced foragers alike. If there aren’t any morels to be found, be consoled that you at least have a beautiful spring day to enjoy.