FreshPoint

Description:

Eat more Morels! Although they are not mushrooms in the strict scientific sense (mushrooms are generally from a class of fungi known as Basidiomycetes, and morels and truffles are Ascomycetes) MORELS are a fungi considered to be mushrooms and have always been highly prized, especially in ancient times by Egyptian pharaohs who believed mushrooms were food of the gods. A discerning bunch, the pharaohs forbade mere mortals to consume MORELS. Today’ s chefs revere MOREL MUSHROOMS for their rich earthy quality. They may be tan, yellow or black in color, have short, thick, hollow stems and sponge-like, webbed pointed caps. Their honeycombed tops are hollow and perfect for stuffing… Try sausage or crabmeat for a tempting appetizer. These unique beauties are extremely tasty and adapt well to most types of cooking. In her book Chez Panisse Vegetables, Alice Waters offers a recipe in which ” MORELS are stewed briefly with shallot, garlic, and a little water to encourage the release of their juices, then are mixed with 2 and bread crumbs and put into a baking dish. Baking concentrates the MORELS flavor” . When prepared, the MORELS release a rich, nut-like flavor and woodsy fragrance. Those pharaohs knew a thing or two about food!