MUSHROOM NEWSLETTER

April 12 2010

A t last! After the lo ngest, coldest, winter in almost 40 years, the start of the mushroom

season is finally upon us. In alkaline soils and waste ground across the country, the bizarrely shaped forms of the morel, Morchella esculenta, are starting to emerge.

A prime example of Morchella conica (or is it esculenta? – see below)

This is one of t he world’s most highly-prized species. O stensibly this is due entirely to its superb flavour (it certainly can’t be down to its looks), but having just spent a glorious

week at a morel festival in Turkey, I believe our fascination for this wonderful fungus is as much to with the challenge of finding them as their taste.

As anyone who has tried t o find t heir own morels will kno w, t hese mushrooms are superbly camouflaged and damned hard to find. Even whe n looking in k nown ‘hot spots’,

at first they are almost impossible to see, growing low to the gro und and usually at least partially obscured by undergrowth. This may be frustrating, but the difficulty of locating

these fascinating mushrooms only adds to their appeal. Hunting t hem is like panning for gold – each mushroom a glistening fleck in the bottom of the pa n.

Spot the morel . . .

If the morel above is difficult to see at first, try spotting the one lurking in the shots

below (clue: it’s s lap bang in t he middle). Even when magnified it is still difficult to spot, only becoming clear when uncovered and photographed at a range o f a few centimetres.

As it looks from eye level . . . from about 30cms . . . and finally after the needles have been cleared

The festival was also a great chance to net work . M eeting fello w mushroom guide, Bill O ’Dea from Ireland (see www.mushroomstuff.com) was great fun, but it was also a great chance to quiz the real experts. For example, I gathered t hree or four priceless bits of

information from t he University of C openhagen’s Dr Henni ng Knudsen.

To start with t he anorak bit, for years there has been debate about whether there is one

morel species which takes several forms, or whethe r there are several c losely-linked, but distinct, varieties. Even the great Roger Phillips vacillates on the subject, but according to P rofessor Knudsen, it seems European mycologists now favour the latter vie w. This is

very academic for most of us, ho wever, because gastronomically they are all e ffectively

the same.

He also definitively quashed the myth that someho w picking mushrooms might damage

future crops: no academic study anywhe re has established any link. Professor Knudsen would like to see restraint when collecting rare species, ho wever – although he quickly points out that all the regularly-gathered edible species are comparatively common, so

this doesn’t apply to people collecting for the pot.

A nd whe n it comes to gathering for culinary purposes, Professor Knudsen uses both a

knife and basket – but not necessarily for the reasons urged in many books. Several

guides suggest cutting reduces damage to the mycelium, while spores can drop through

the gaps in a basket to e ncourage future growth. A gain, P rofessor Knudsen says there is no scientific backing for either t heory. The mycelium is just as exposed to infection whether picked or cut and the probability of any spores producing a new mycelium are

so microscopic that attempting to boost the chances with a basket would have no statistical impact. He says, however, that using a kni fe minimises the amount of dirt i n the haul and the basket keeps the mushrooms in optimum condition.

Morels can take many shapes and colours, but all are equally delicious . . . and hard to find

So where does one find morels c loser to home? Well, start by checking chalky- or

limestone-dominated landscapes. They also love scorched earth: they grew all over London bomb sites following the blitz and an A merican group lists the precise locations of forest fires - two years later the blackened ground is often covered with morels.

O f course the easiest way to find morels is to get a n expe rt to show the way a nd t he Uzumlu festival (see http://www.kuzugo begifest.com/index_eng.html) is a brilliant

starting point. As I discovered for myself, there is a wealth of friendly help for mushroom

lovers at the three-day event. Even better I met up with t wo guests from one o f my 2008 forays, C al and Diane, both of whom managed to find their own morels.

Uzumlu’s wonderful morel festival – make a date for next year . . .

So on a final note , I would like to thank my hosts, Ayse and C enghiz, for a superb week

of mushroom immersion surrounded by excellent company. If anyone fancies visiting the area to hunt mushrooms at any time of yea r (there is usually something available, be it saffron milk cap, blewit or morel), yo u couldn’t beat staying in t heir superb self-catering

accommodation with its spectacular views of the local mountains and with mushrooms gro wing – literally – all around the garden and into the surro unding woods.

Happy mushrooming!

Daniel Butler 01597 811168 / 0779 429 4221