Morel Mushrooms, A Rare Dutchess County Delicacy

After a spring rain in early May, Patricia Jean donned long sleeves, pants, boots and tick repellent. Then, accompanied by her dog, Lilac, the restaurateur and co-owner of Champetre headed into the woods around Pine Plains and Ancramdale. Jean carried clippers to clear bramble, a knife for harvesting, and a canvas bag slung across her body to carry her hunting treasure home. Her quarry? The elusive morel mushroom. 

Morel mushrooms, or Morchella esculenta, are a delicacy worldwide, known for their mild earthy flavor, versatility in cooking, and brief appearance every spring. A pound of fresh morels, about 30 mushrooms, can cost up to $65 at local farmers markets – and dried, up to $200 online. 

Morels have many nicknames in the United States: dryland fish, Molly moochers, merkels, (apparently the West Virginian slang for “miracles”), haystacks and conehead brains. Annual festivals are held in their honor in Michigan and Wisconsin, and Minnesota has dubbed the morel its state mushroom. They are celebrated in local art, cookbooks, songs and websites. 

This finicky mushroom isn’t cultivated in the U.S., so morel lovers are dependent on foragers to gather them in the wild. The mushroom hunter’s challenge is to discover the morel’s hiding place, pick it at peak flavor and avoid the toxic lookalikes known collectively as “false morels.” In Dutchess County, morels are in season from late April to mid-May, depending on the mix of rain, nutrients and cool temperatures. 

Morels thrive around the bases of dead elms and living ash; they grow in old apple orchards and the scorched earth from forest fires. Morels can be found in surprising places: rotting stairs, sawdust piles, and even gravel. Growing up to 10 inches tall, they look like tripe on a stalk, and come in different colors.  

Jean searches for yellow morels, which she calls “blondes.” The less common black variety blends into its surroundings, making it much harder to spot, but is prized for its more complex flavor. Local foragers also look for half-free morels, so-named because the cap is detached halfway down, forming a skirt. Like the famed French truffle hunters, serious morel foragers will not divulge their favorite places to find morels. The few friends allowed on the search are sworn to secrecy.  

Foraging is not without its risks: In addition to constant battles with ticks, thorns and poison ivy, Jean once surprised a bear that luckily climbed a tree as she slowly backed away. “I’ll never return to that grove again!” Jean said.  

Other hazards include the arsenic once used as pesticide, which can persist in the soil of abandoned apple orchards and accumulate in mushrooms. And this year, New York state’s turkey season has coincided with the morel season, requiring extra vigilance. 

Jean states that artist Tony Henneberg, a Pine Plains resident, is one of the best local morel hunters she knows. “The ability to find morels is a combination of knowledge and a gift – maybe the gift of patience,” she said. “Tony has that little something extra that helps him find mushrooms in spots I swear I’d looked in.” 

A devoted morel hunter for 20 years, Henneberg “loves foraging for morels in spring when the woods are full of warblers again.” He claims to have no favorite secret spot, and searches a range of local forests and friendly farms each year. He recently found two large morels in a sheep barn. 

Jean’s paeans to Henneberg’s foraging gifts don’t appear to be an exaggeration: It’s not unusual for him to collect 6 pounds of morels in a single outing. Those he doesn’t eat or freeze for later use are given away to friends, or used as subjects for his watercolors. 

Great in sauces, salads and meat dishes, Henneberg and Jean agree the best way to eat morels is sautéed in butter, with shallots and brandy. If you’d like to prepare a fresh morel dish you’d better hurry. Check out these recipes.  

To participate in morel hunting next year, work with a local foraging expert, a local community group, or online experienced mushroom hunters. New York state is home to a number of toxic mushroom varieties, so those who are new to the hobby should never pick and eat mushrooms without guidance from a knowledgeable expert.