[mikeg]

A cartoon that I once saw showed outdoor bins at a vegitable store. Two bins which contained mushrooms had the following signs. One sign stated "Mushrooms $2.50 per pound", while the sign on the other bin stated "Mushrooms (?) $0.15 per pound".

 

[elrod-tom]

The town where I grew up in northern Michigan has developed something of a reputation for being the morel mushroom capital of the world...even been written up in Sports Illustrated (made an old HS classmate of mine sound like a complete moron...of course, he was making morel mushroom statues with a chainsaw

).

If you've never had morels, they are delicious, nutty, and a tiny bit garlicy (go figure). My favorite way of preparing them is pan-fried in butter. MMMM... We used to literally pick them by the bushel and eat them for weeks at a time. Nice to be out in the woods that time of year too (early April)

Just to reiterate the warnings about mushroom picking, you really do have to know what you're doing. A good family friend, someone who not only knew his wild mushrooms, but was a physician on top of it all, damn near died a few years back eating what turned out to be a poisonous beefsteak mushroom. I've also known folks who ended up being violently allergic to them.

It's good eating...but please be sure you know what you're doing before you eat one.

 

[cpw]

A friend in college used to grow his own from cultures. They tasted horrible and kept me up all night.
In europe, it's much more common to pick one's own. You can often bring them to a pharmacy for positive identification prior to ingestion. It's a good way to avoid peremanent liver damage!
Truffles are a wonderful treat if you can afford 'em. Had some w/ a hand made pasta and only a taste of butter and oil and it was one of the most memorable meals I've had- only running out of an outstanding Piemonte red marred an otherwise perfect meal and presentation.

 

[ajt976]

Quote:

Originally Posted by elrod-tom It's good eating...but please be sure you know what you're doing before you eat one.

Most definately. I grew up with a friend of mine who's dad grew up down in the Ozarks in Missouri. We would always come across huge mushrooms while we were turkey hunting down there. I always enjoyed them, up until recently when I found out that I had been eating poisonous false morel mushrooms for years!

I stay away from them anymore, kinda makes me nervous, but they were really good eats.

Once early in the spring season, I'd just missed decent sized tom when we found THE largest mushroom I'd ever seen...this thing was literally about the diameter of 1.5 basketballs. I had to carry it home wrapped up in my BDU jacket!

But seriously, they can be quite toxic! So be careful.