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mmmmmMorels

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After seeing the pic of the lil greenhood orchid in zen peddlers thread i realised it is that time of year again and the morels should be fruiting soon. So off i went out to the patch to have a look for some early fruit. As soon as i opened the car door there they were, gonna be a hell of a season for them this spring by the looks of things, plenty of moisture for once and hundreds upon hundreds of tiny ones. Picked enuff for a feed, checked out the greenhoods which were also everywhere and legged it before the rain set in.

So there ya have it, if ya lucky enuff to know of an area where these lil babies fruit i suggest headn out for a look see. :) Ill take a camera next time if i can get one good enuff!

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awesome mate.

good find.

how you planning on cooking them.

i gotta get some spots happening.

cheers, Obtuse.

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First lot as always, fry em up with a lil bit of butter and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Prolly gon head out tomorrow or the next day and get a heap, some for myself and some to sell to tha local foodies, chefs go nuts for em if they know their stuff. A mates dad gets em by the boxfull and cruises down to melbourne to sell them, gets a good dollar and they go quick as but i guess it helps that he is a chef and knows where he can get rid of them quickly.

Once ya find a decent patch ya pretty much set for the rest of the year, they dry really well and keep just as good and yes, all the hype is well deserved.

btw, if anyone wants some myc to play around with gimme a yell.

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wow that is a nice haul, have only found them once, after the fires up kinglake way, small patch, their gravity ignoring orientation well present haha, went back looking for them the other day but so much regrowth, couldn't find the exact small patch, must keep a better eye out for them, thanks for the heads up.

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Ill get some habitat shots next time so ya got an idea of area we get them here.

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yeah just to rub it in :P cheers mate, always like photos from landscapes up your way.

some folk must be getting them floating through the doors up your way, you're doing alright with the floods i take it? must be a bit south of you from vague reports i caught.

Going to be a bumper season for a lot of things i reckon, lotsa seed collecting to be done, can't wait wooh

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hehe. Yeh sure is wet here but flooding etc more south like ya said, best spring falls in years which is nice to see imo.

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That's awesome!

So you just opened the door and fell arse first into a patch of them ?

:drool2:

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You are a lucky bastard indeed.

Are there any habitat generalities worth keeping in mind when looking for these? I only ever found one once in the Blue Mountains.

Wondering if they might be found in my area at all.

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they 'look' delicious - although i've never been lucky enough to try them aside from some dried mixed mushrooms I bought once (of which there was a total of one morel in the packet).

did the bush fires have enything to do with their prevalence?

is there only one species here in australia? Elata?

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well i forgot all about tha camera in my rush to get out this morning but i had tha fone cam which did tha job ok. Massive flush, only picked for around 40 minutes and got around 3 and a half kilo, plenty more to be picked yet though, headn out again tmoro :)

The area i pick in hasnt been nurnt for many many years that im aware of, doesnt seem to have an effect on fruiting.

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Are there any habitat generalities worth keeping in mind when looking for these?

morels are unpredictable, but like other mushrooms, if you find some decent patches, you're OK for life. Burnt woods, they like, they can fruit in surprising abundance there, pine forests, fir forests [they prefer openings rather than shady spots], grasslands...

and yeah they deserve the hype 100%

Try to cook some [include some dried ones along with some fresh] with shrimps [preferably fresh], garlic and tomato sauce. It's one of the best mushrooms dishes IMO.

Good finds PD. What's the price for them per kilo fresh / per kilo dried in Oz?

PS: Always fun to see the vice-versa seasons. WE are expecting the automn season fruitings to begin in the following month

Edited by mutant

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never thought about tryin them wit seafood mutant, ill try that one for sure. Even just fried off wit a lil butter and then havin them with cooked chicken is unreal.

ATM im gettn $50 a kg fresh.

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Yep you do that. It seriously rules. The garlic is important, pepper too, and some dried morels to give more intense flavour are a must. Simple as that, doesn't need to be more complex. Killer taste and after taste.

If you can't use fresh shrimps, then use whole frozen, not cleaned up!!!

PS you can do it with dried morels only. Let me know what you think if you cook'em like that.

Edited by mutant

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Yeh i usually have a stash of dried ones and yeh, they are a lil more full on in flavour than the fresh. SIMPLE, that is a key word when cookn wit morels imo. I always shied away from garlic when cookn them, thought it would overpower too much but ill give it a whirl now ya mention it.

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I'm really intrigued by these fungi - and dying to try them (along with truffles some day). thats a great 4th photo with all the morels sticking up out of the ground.

How long do you think they'll fruit for PD? ie. do we very short and precise season we have here in Oz - or has all the rain you've had in Vic been the catalyst for this? Are they worth looking for in Sydney?

Lastly, i'd be prepared to send you some money (even as much as $50 kilo) if you think they'd survive express posting.

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you need the garlic to spice up the red tomato with shrimp sauce ;)

on a side note,

yeah, dried makes a difference, cooking wild mushrooms with red sauce/tomato can hide the more delicate mushrooms flavours, this is less likely to happen when using dried only or dried along with the fresh. Still, mushrooms like agaricus and amanitas [f.e. the not so often eaten A.vaginata kai relatives] will be flavourfull even in a red sauce for pasta.

Have a happy morel season!

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CrayZ, they dont seem to have a real long season at all and yes this rain has def helped, need good winter soakings for a nice spring flush, the past few years i have been lucky to get a feed due to the dry winters. I would have no idea where to look around the sydney area but id say head out the hills. Might be hard to find them anywhere close to sydney though due to other pickers and youd be hard pressed to get directions to a morel patch out of anyone thats is in the know.

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...youd be hard pressed to get directions to a morel patch out of anyone thats is in the know.

 

I would never be so presumptous to even ask.

We've had a pretty dry winter up here - might be difficult then. But it would be interesting to know how far north they grow.

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But it would be interesting to know how far north they grow.

Been found all the way up to queensland apparently.

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beautiful mate, nice landscape, and not bad shrooms too :P if only cod and morel season coincided, bah gotta get some aquaponics happenin', local tafe where doing alright with them a few years back i think, pretty big professional setup though and always tweaking, lotta work, plus cod was like 1/20th of their production species, just a tester i think.

glad to hear the floods didn't get ya, hope wang's okay!

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Nice finds PD!

Will have to go out this weekend for a look around.

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yeh they do Zen, ya should head out for a look mate.

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