Mushrooms and loose Morels
The last few days have seen many strange mushrooms growing in our garden. They are very distinctive and after much researching on the internet I have come to the conclusion that they are from the Morel family of mushrooms - Morchella esculenta. Apparently they have a delicate flavor combined with a meaty texture. They can be grilled, sauteed or in sauces, and served with grilled or roasted food. There doesn't seem to be any confusion with potentially deadly fungi, but still I don't want to take the risk. I'm really interested in finding out about edible mushrooms, but I dont fancy poisoning the family. So I guess it's look but dont eat.We have planted some Strawberries into the Juniorettes veggie bed- Senga Sengana. The plants look quite strong and should do well. Apparently they were first cultivated by a German in the 1950's. Good German Strawberries.
Technorati Tags: Gardening, Marburg, Juniorette, Mushrooms
posted by Haddock at 3:01 PM
23 Comments:
One of my best memories of visiting our friend Otto in Bavaria is a mushroom hunt that I went on with him. Shubi and I had gone over in 1998 to visit after I had some surgery. I needed some rest, but I also needed to get out and walk. So off we went with the pups and his grandson to walk in the woods and hunt mushrooms. Otto knew all the edible ones and all the poisonous ones. We walked for over 2 hours and found many different varieties, but I remember the King Mushroom the most. We came home and while I slept for a while Otto prepared a wonderful meal of sautéed mushrooms in a cream sauce. Sadly, Otto passed away from cancer four years ago, but that day of hunting mushrooms stands out as one of the happiest times I spent with him.
Did you plant these or did they come up on their own? It seems wierd that they would suddenly appear. And like Tara - don't make your family hallucinate!
I like the title of your post! :-)
Yeah, maybe not a good idea to eat those since you just never know. We have a Pilzbestimmung book at home, but i'm still pretty wary of picking wild mushrooms without and expert along. We also have weird mushrooms pop up on the lawn now and then and I have no idea what they are. Small brownish toadstool type of things.
My Dad used to go hunting for wild mushrooms. "They" say if you're not 101% sure of what your eating then just don't!
But I do know from my paternal guidance that you can get some really good books for beginners on fungi and 'shrooms. It would be quite interesting!
Yummy! love mushrooms!
Shammick means 'dirty person' apparently!
Have a great weekend mate!
I was once told with a smile that it can often take several generations of experience, often not in a direct line of descent, to produce a mushroom expert.
You could always try what they taught us in survival school, which is to sample tiny bits first, wait a while, and if you don't puke or go into convulsions, etc., try a little more, and so on ... but I wouldn't recommend it unless you are really hungry.
Yeah...I'm thinking more along the same lines as Tara. What might the hallucinogenic qualities be?
Those are "Morcheln". A few years back, I had some adjacent to my roses - I assumed I'd brought the spores with the Rindenmulch I used to heap around the roses in the fall.
Those mushrooms are delicious. (I ate all of mine in a soup).
I will be over for strawberry short cake when those berries are ready!
Cyn
Maribeth - I think mushroom gathering can be a good fun social activity. I'm glad you had such a nice time in Bavaria. It certainly helps having a mushroom expert with you.
Tara - If I'm lucky! :)
Claire - They came up on their own in the Rindenmulch (bark chippings) that is around the hedging. I guess the spores were in the Rindenmulch.
Christina - Last night I decided to try and eat some of the mushrooms on my next days off. I really can't find anything else that looks like these and is poisonous. But I wont let Mrs H or the Juniorette try them just to be extra safe :)
Ms Mac - We have 2 books at home, but we cannot find them - Typical!...but the resources on the internet were great :)
Martin - Have a good weekend in Shammick as well. Hope the weather is good :)
Mike - LOL! - hope I am in the direct line of descent. I am pretty certain these mushrooms are edible. But if I do start puking I'll get Mrs H to to hospital PDQ :)
Just another - I'll let you know! :)
Karen - Ours came up in the Rindenmulch as well. A soup sounds a wonderful idea! :) Rechecked via google and Morcheln = Morchella esculenta :)
Cynthia - I'll get Mrs H to dig out the recipe for the strawberry shortcake :)
Never eaten a mushroom. They aren't harvested out here in JA.
That's way cool of a find. I wouldn't want to go eating a wrong musroom though...scarey. Even if people assured me they were fine, I'd still wait to pick em up at the store.
Naked Nerd - I think its only a small risk and I'll only try a small ammount. But if you dont hear from me again, then you were right, I should've stayed with the strawberries! :)
Leon - Thanks for stopping by. Are you looking forward to the Cricket World cup in 2007?
Expat - From the piccys I've seen of these I dont think they can be confused with other fungi :)
In France you can take your mushrooms into some chemist's to have them checked ... can you do that in Germany?
Mmmm. I love morels!! They make excellent sauces. Just make sure they are very clean otherwise you'll end up with more sand than mushroom in your soup/sauce.
Here's a tip for you: rinse the morels under running water, then let them soak an hour or so in lukewarm milk, take them out and rinse again, but keep the milk and sieve it through a paper coffee filter and use the milk in your sauce/soup.
Bon appetit!
As long as the mushrooms are hollow, they are morels. You can't possibly confuse them with anything else. Also, those mushrooms are worth a lot of money, you could sell them to a store probably. At least you can in america. So eat them, so long as you cut into them and they are hollow. Enjoy them, because they'd be really expensive to buy!
Haddock, I saw these mushrooms in a deli, 6 Euros for 100 gms.
You should give up Telecom's (before it gives you up) & take up mashroom cultivation.
Le Laquet - I'm not sure about that. But it would be great if if chemists would do that here in Germany.
CanadianSwiss - Thanks for the cooking tips. I will follow your advice :)
Jaxon - There are indeed hollow.Many thanks for the advice, and I will enjoy them! :)
Nordbank - If I could give up Telecomms I would. Moving into Mushroom cultivation wouldn't be such a big move anyway as I am used to being fed shit and kept in the dark! :) (A very old joke!)
LOL, Haddock! An oldie but goodie. I mean the joke, of course, not you. :-)
Those are very definately edible, and delicious. I used to go mushrooming, my favorite is the King Bolet. It's a large 'shroom with a nice meaty cap. Sautee'd in butter, mmmmmmmmm.
OH MY GOD... that is so not a food source!
Christina - LOL....well I'll be honest, I'm not getting any younger! :)
Jenna - We found a Bay Bolete (Xerocomus badius) last summer which we added to some onions, mince & peas. It was delicious! :)
Eurotrippen - They do look quite iffy, but they are really nice to eat! :)
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