Free Markets and Morel Mushrooms
I kind of like mushrooms.
It's a curiosity thing.
Sure, I like to eat them, but I'm more fascinated with them as a kind of rare thing that grows.
I've foraged for them and have found (and eaten) a few giant puffballs.
But, I have had zero - *zero* - success finding the elusive Morel, the grand daddy of gourmet edible mushrooms.
The "ha-ha, only serious" joke about my Morel foraging is, "Well, I found a lot of ticks."
Morels are not just elusive, but they are nearly impossible to cultivate.
It can be done, but it's tricky and not cost-effective.
The upshot of this is fresh Morels are seasonal (April - May) and almost exclusively harvested wild.
There is little to no concern about eating them, their only poisonous "look-alike" looks absolutely nothing like a Morel - a Morel is a Morel.
A further consequence is, that if you *do* find fresh, wild Morels for sale, expect to pay about $60.00 a pound.
So imagine my surprise when, last week, in a Whole Foods Supermarket, I saw fresh, wild Morels for sale (at $60,00 a pound).
The price put me off and I was about to move on, when another customer - one who knew what these rare things were - just about leaped in front of me, grabbed a handful, and stuck them in a produce bag.
I commented to him, "$60.00 a pound."
He replied, "Yeah, but they're so light, that what I have here [enough for a skillet full of eggs for two] will probably cost about $3.00"
The obviousness of this struck me with a giant, "DUH!", and I too grabbed a handful and stuck them in a bag.
The price, about $2.50.
This morning, my wife and I had eggs with fresh, wild Morel mushrooms - one of the rarest and most sought after gourmet mushrooms in the world - for the cost of the eggs, bacon, gas, and $2.50.
The Moral of The Morel: Free Markets *work*.
It's a curiosity thing.
Sure, I like to eat them, but I'm more fascinated with them as a kind of rare thing that grows.
I've foraged for them and have found (and eaten) a few giant puffballs.
But, I have had zero - *zero* - success finding the elusive Morel, the grand daddy of gourmet edible mushrooms.
The "ha-ha, only serious" joke about my Morel foraging is, "Well, I found a lot of ticks."
Morels are not just elusive, but they are nearly impossible to cultivate.
It can be done, but it's tricky and not cost-effective.
The upshot of this is fresh Morels are seasonal (April - May) and almost exclusively harvested wild.
There is little to no concern about eating them, their only poisonous "look-alike" looks absolutely nothing like a Morel - a Morel is a Morel.
A further consequence is, that if you *do* find fresh, wild Morels for sale, expect to pay about $60.00 a pound.
So imagine my surprise when, last week, in a Whole Foods Supermarket, I saw fresh, wild Morels for sale (at $60,00 a pound).
The price put me off and I was about to move on, when another customer - one who knew what these rare things were - just about leaped in front of me, grabbed a handful, and stuck them in a produce bag.
I commented to him, "$60.00 a pound."
He replied, "Yeah, but they're so light, that what I have here [enough for a skillet full of eggs for two] will probably cost about $3.00"
The obviousness of this struck me with a giant, "DUH!", and I too grabbed a handful and stuck them in a bag.
The price, about $2.50.
This morning, my wife and I had eggs with fresh, wild Morel mushrooms - one of the rarest and most sought after gourmet mushrooms in the world - for the cost of the eggs, bacon, gas, and $2.50.
The Moral of The Morel: Free Markets *work*.
seasonal and found in the South West Oregon. Used to be an income for many families until the US Government turned it over to some immigrants and restricted citizens in the harvesting. Another reason I left Appalachia West. Like the small business administration. Always had an excuse to deny to the citizen but bent over backward for everyone else. General Welfare was supposed to mean across the board not narrowly focused.
Jan
For those of you who don't know.
The Shaggy Mane is gourmet edible... unless you also happen to be drinking alcohol while it's in your system... then you get sick (not dead, just sick)
Boletes are probably my favorite mushroom...but that may be due to lack of morels in the area.
What you said about wild boletes goes for all mushrooms! I envy your friend!
Jan
Boletes like his front yard.
I never harvested or ate any because a few were reddish (instead of yellowish/brownish), and most reddish boletes will make you sick or dead.
Generally, the yellowish/brownish boletes are good.
But I wouldn't eat a wild one unless I was dead certain on the identification.
I only eat the mushrooms that are easy to ID: chanterelles, boletes (spongy gills), lion's mane, honey mushrooms (glow in the dark), pufballs (slice open first). The only morels I have found were the 'landscaping morels'...found adjacent to buildings and growing as a result of mulch having been imported from Washington or Oregon.
Eudamonia's list is good. Steph (a co-worker) and I started by going out with a local mushrooming group headed by a professional mycologist.
Jan
I haven't had breakfast yet, and now I'm really hungry.....
This is the one I have
http://www.amazon.com/Field-Guide-Mushro...
2) See if there is a mycology club in your area.
3) Forage and identify what you find: disection, spore print, etc.
4) Go here: http://www.rogersmushrooms.com/
5) NEVER eat anything you are not *dead* certain of, pun intended.
Most of what you will find will make you sick or make you dead.
Wash your hands afterwards.
Take this seriously.
My first foraging trip, I brought home and through disection and spore print identified this:
http://www.rogersmushrooms.com/gallery/D...
Most vendors are local crafty type people, or kitchen bakers (Wyoming has a Food Freedom Act! Yay! The PRC, of course, does not.)
There is one vendor which sells goods from an actual farm in Colorado: Hazel Dell Mushrooms.
Their main guy supervised mushroom farms for Dole for 20 years.
Farm fresh Oyster, Lions' Mane, and Cinnamon Cap.
Butter, butter, butter!
I will happily drive the 35 minutes over to our Whole Foods to hopefully procure some of those delectable morels. I make mine in butter and sherry.
Even more fun when you find something gourmet edible.
Yum!
They might be hard to find here, but they were near impossible to find in The PRC.
Plus, WY has the added benefit of *no* ticks!