By Stephen Smoot
Some of the world’s most sought after foods in 2024 can come right from a West Virginian’s back yard. Last month saw the rise of ramps as the winter cold dissipates into the warmth of spring.
Starting in April come the morel mushrooms. Food Network star and famed chef Simon Majumdar says of them “that I know will bring a teary look of appreciation to just about every chef I encounter, and that is the morel mushroom. So much so that when I reached out to Iron Chef Alex Guarnaschelli for her opinion of the morel, she referred to it as the ‘sacred mushroom.’”
Morels, along with ramps, come with the onset of spring. They appear for a few weeks each spring and have a distinctive honeycomb shape, as well as a hollow interior. Majumdar notes that morels are a close genetic relation to high priced and in demand truffles.
French cooking features both, but morels also appear often in native Appalachian fare.
Jeff Munn, who along with his wife, Teresa, own the historic Annanias Pitsenbarger Farm, Dry Run Distillery, and Loafer’s Glory bed and breakfast in Dahmer, has cultivated and observed growth of these delicacies on his property for years.
Munn recommends to those considering mushroom hunting that they purchase and use what he calls “the Bible of hunting mushrooms, which is the book entitled Mushrooms of West Virginia and the Central Appalachians.”
Mushroom hunters must take special care to correctly identify which mushrooms can be consumed safely. Munn warns that “there are mushrooms that will flat out kill you.” He goes on to explain that poisonous mushrooms “can attack your liver and kidneys and take days to produce symptoms.” Often by the time symptoms appear, the disease has entered a terminal phase.
On Munn’s property, the morels cluster around the bases of the historic farm’s remaining stands of old apple trees and also tulip poplars. “We find a lot in tulip poplar groves,” he shared, adding that “we always look at them after the apple trees.” He said that “morels love apple trees. They bond with the roots.”
Munn shared facts not always commonly known about mushrooms. Each individual mushroom does not represent an individual plant, but the “fruit” of a much larger underground fungal organism. This organism lives in a symbiotic relationship with the trees in which its “spider web of connective tissue,” as Munn calls it, intertwines with roots. That means that both organisms operate almost as a good marriage, both gaining from each other while not bringing harm.
Mushrooms expand their domain by putting off spores. Munn said that he always carries his harvest in wicker baskets or mesh bags that allow spores to drop onto the ground and, hopefully, create fresh stands of them next spring.
Morels come in two distinct types, yellow and black. While the yellow version, Munn jokes, “looks like a little Christmas tree made out of brains,” he says black morels “are ugly as sin” but “taste pretty good.”
This spring, after an outbreak of illnesses at a restaurant in Washington state, the Centers for Disease Control issued a warning to thoroughly cook morel mushrooms before consuming them. The morels used at the Washington restaurant came from China and were served almost raw in sushi. Morels from the same batch, used at a California establishment, but thoroughly cooked, offered no ill effect.
Munn stated that one of his favorite ways to eat morels lies in stuffing their hollow centers with cream cheese and other delicious flavors, then cooking them like poppers. They also add tremendous flavor to soups and stews.
Morels can be strung up, dried, and stored for decades in that state before rehydrating and eating. “Run a leather strap through the stalks,” Munn explains, “then hang them up over the fireplace.” In his own living room, Munn has dozens of dried morels hanging over the wood stove, waiting to be added to a delicious meal.
He cautioned all, however, to not regard him as “a mushroom scholar.” Munn said “I just know what I’ve been told that’s been passed down by my family and others.” He emphasized repeatedly to study proper identification of mushrooms before hunting and/or go out with someone experienced in identifying the right fungi.
