The morel of my story, or, The story of my morels

So I had a feeling that I had waited too long this morning to get to the farmer's market, and sure enough - the mushroom guy was completely sold out of morels! All he had were dried ones, and I just didn't think they'd taste nearly as well as fresh ones.

My experience with wild mushrooms is that good quality dried ones actually have more intense flavor than fresh ones, although it is a mustier-earthier toned flavor, less "wet forest floor". But they texture is nowhere near as good, they need to be chopped up fairly small and used with cultivated mushrooms or to flavor a sauce.

My experience with wild mushrooms is that good quality dried ones actually have more intense flavor than fresh ones, although it is a mustier-earthier toned flavor, less "wet forest floor". But they texture is nowhere near as good, they need to be chopped up fairly small and used with cultivated mushrooms or to flavor a sauce.

I had a feeling this would be the case, which is why I didn't buy them. I've used other types of dried mushrooms before and you're right that they're better off chopped up finely in a sauce or stew. But I want my first experience with morels to be with the fresh ones. I'm going to attempt to be an early bird this Saturday and hopefully manage to snag a few. I've been salivating in anticipation of this dish for two weeks now!

Sadly, I just learned that asparagus season is over here - I knew it was getting close. I'll probably have to settle for woody, imported asparagus - or choose a different morel dish. Any suggestions?

[Jenise]

My experience with wild mushrooms is that good quality dried ones actually have more intense flavor than fresh ones, although it is a mustier-earthier toned flavor, less "wet forest floor". But they texture is nowhere near as good, they need to be chopped up fairly small and used with cultivated mushrooms or to flavor a sauce.

Christian, in your experience does this apply to morels though? Shitakes, yes, are stronger, and porcinis too, but I haven't found that to be the case across the board with all dried mushrooms. And specifically I've never had a dried chanterelle or a morel that equal the flavor of fresh. And then there's the texture: fresh mushrooms are silky, dried aren't, and that's a major part of the experience.

My experience with wild mushrooms is that good quality dried ones actually have more intense flavor than fresh ones, although it is a mustier-earthier toned flavor, less "wet forest floor". But they texture is nowhere near as good, they need to be chopped up fairly small and used with cultivated mushrooms or to flavor a sauce.

Christian, in your experience does this apply to morels though? Shitakes, yes, are stronger, and porcinis too, but I haven't found that to be the case across the board with all dried mushrooms. And specifically I've never had a dried chanterelle or a morel that equal the flavor of fresh. And then there's the texture: fresh mushrooms are silky, dried aren't, and that's a major part of the experience.

I haven't prepared dried morels often enough to make a strong conclusion. The couple of times I did, they were plenty flavorful. My problem here in the Bay area seems to be the reverse - the fresh morels are often strangely wimpy in flavor, even at a place like Monterey Market which gets very good black trumpets, porcini, chanterelles, etc. The fresh morels I have had in Oregon, Pennsylvania or France were all better.