black morel and ...

[Lorelei Norvell]

Dear Mike --
	I bet you live somewhere besides the Pacific Northwest.  I have 
been gathering morels for over 20 years and have adopted a philosophical 
approach to the extra protein.  There are some occasions when I have 
found larva-free morels, but for the most part those (gathered in the 
coniferous region of the Blue Mountains in eastern Oregon) I do find have 
a population of beasties in direct proportion to the inferred age of the 
morel.  (I am referring to what I call Morchella elata/angusticeps (aka 
M. conica).  
	It appears that those morels in the Morchella esculenta group 
tend to have far fewer larvae.
	I have soaked the morels in salt water, then drained them.  
Before doing so, I usually cut each morel either in circlets or 
length-wise to determine the amount of infestation (a good idea to also 
get rid of the occasional milipede curled up in the top of the cap.).  
This also reveals the "ground" color -- if the black morel has an 
orangish cast and is black on the surface, I will toss it.  It will 
usually also have a very strong odor, indicative of having been above 
ground for a very long time.
 Lorelei

On 30 Mar 1995, Mike Hoffelder wrote:

> Ken Sanderson <ksanders at ccinet.ab.ca> wrote:
> 
> >   ..... What is the best way to get rid of the worms
> >   I find in even the youngest morel?
> 
> What kind of worms do you find in morels?!?!
> I have been gathering morels for 25 years,
> and have found very few pests inhabiting morels.
> I have found only a couple of slugs and a few 
> wood lice in my whole 25 year morel experience.
> 
> 
> 

lorelei at teleport.COM  Public Access User --- Not affiliated with Teleport
Public Access UNIX and Internet at (503) 220-1016 (2400-14400, N81)