The Morel of the Story

May 10, 2015

"We’re going out to pick morels."

This phrase might be foreign to those not living in northern Michigan, where picking morel mushrooms has been a tradition for decades, complete with the stories about where to find them, how to find them and tall tales about just how big they can get.

Equally intriguing are the cooking legends that surround them, similar to the fervor that’s involved in picking and cooking with truffles.

The very small subject behind all of this hype is actually morchella, a genus of edible mushrooms with honeycomb-like caps and distinctive flavor. Locals and chefs around the region eagerly await the arrival of the mushrooms in the spring, when clumps of morels start showing up in the forests and harvesters get secretive about where their favorite picking spots are.

MAD ABOUT MUSHROOMS

Boyne City’s Tony Williams, owner of Freshwater Gallery and a local mushrooming legend in his own right, said that picking morels has been a family activity for more than 100 years.

"My grandfather Homer came to Boyne City in the 1890s to cut the pine as a logger," Williams said. "He married a French-Indian girl and her father was a French fur trapper; he used to pick morels in France as a boy, so we were taught to pick them here. It really is a family tradition."

Williams, who is involved with the annual Morel Mushroom Festival in Boyne City, said the esteemed fungi can be found near the 45th parallel all around the planet.

"Montana, the Dakotas, Oregon and up in British Columbia and Canada."

If there happens to be a forest fire in any of these locales, the morels multiply even more rapidly in response.

"The next year after a forest fire, the morels – they call them "˜burn morels’ – pop up like crazy," Williams said.

FAMOUS FUNGI

People pop up in droves for the Morel Festival, too. This year is the 55th anniversary of the event and the reputation of the fest’s Morel Picking Championship reaches around the globe.

"We get attendees from all over the country and the world," Williams confirmed. "Of course, people from the southern states, Iowa and Ohio come up here. But last year, I met a guy who flew in from Greece for four days just to attend the festival here and pick morels, and then he flew right back home."

In addition to a morel mushrooms seminar that Williams offers, which regularly attracts several hundred people, there are a plethora of morel-related festival events, from mushroom-picking hunts to live music (yes, there are songs about mushrooms), mushroom costumes and, of course, food. The Taste of Morels offers the mushrooms in a wide range of recipes that showcase the versatility of the ingredient.

"There are so many unusual things they can do with "˜em," Williams said. "Red Mesa’s done a morel taco, we’ve had morel pizza and one of the Boyne ice cream makers actually made morel ice cream."

FORAGING FUN

New this year, author Ruth Mossok Johnston will be hosting a cooking demonstration from her cookbook, "The Art of Cooking Morels." A new mini-microbrew festival will close the streets for even more gastronomic fun.

The Great Morel Giveaway – one of Williams’ favorite parts of the festival – will return to trek 200 people through town, led by Williams himself, to win prizes and recognition.

"We walk through town to every participating store and draw people’s names as we go," Williams explained. "Each person who wins gets 2 pounds of morels. We’ll give away 50 pounds of morels in an hour!" Morels aren’t merely fun and flavor, though. Finding and using mushrooms of all kinds as food, Williams explained, began centuries ago, and taught people the important skill of foraging, in addition to farming.

Today, chefs keep finding new ways to cook these legendary mushrooms, solidifying their status as an integral part of a northern Michigan spring.

"Growing up, my family picked and ate tons of morels," Williams said. "We’d saute them in butter and you’d just pile them on your plate. I’ve probably had morels prepared a million ways, and they’re always good."