Know Your Michigan Mushrooms: Black Trumpet

Posted on by farlane

IMPORTANT NOTE: Mushrooms can be dangerous and even deadly! Be careful and know what you’re eating. As the saying goes: “There are old mushroom hunters, and bold mushroom hunters, but there are no old, bold mushroom hunters.”

Black Trumpet

Black Trumpet, photo by I am Jacques Strappe

The Michigan Morel Hunters Club features mushrooms that are in season in their Mushroom of the Month. One of the late summer mushrooms they have  highlighted are Black Trumpets (Craterellus cornucopioides):

Black Trumpets (aka horn-of-plenty) mushrooms are a wonderful edible mushroom that grows in Michigan from July through September. They are fragile mushrooms that look like a cornucopia (horn-of-plenty) or maybe like trumpets but are black or gray instead of gold. Despite somewhat funereal descriptions and European names (trompette de la morte in French and trombetta dei morti in Italian), they are very tasty mushrooms that can be widely used in cooking. They are strongly flavored mushrooms with a fragrant aroma. Their strong flavor and aroma allows them to be used in a wide variety of dishes. Though they are difficult to find, they are definitely worth pursuing. Fortunately, they grow in clusters so there often are many where one is found.

…Trumpets are ideal for sophisticated dishes because of their fragrant aroma and strong flavor. Because of their fragrant aroma they are often dried and pulverized for use as a seasoning for everything from soup to steak. They are very easy to dry requiring only a few hours in a dehydrator or a couple of days of open air drying. They are delicious sautéed in butter with parsley and chives as a side dish.

Read more at the MMHC including how to identify them. A good thing is that the only similar mushroom (black chantarelle) is also edible! Also check out these black trumpet photos and ID tips at MushroomExpert.com.

Marjorie says that they found a grove of these tasty critters and harvested a large bag full of them … and that they smell like apricots. View her photo bigger and see more in her surprisingly large fungus & lichen slideshow. There’s lots more from Marjorie on Michigan in Pictures including her multi-day Michigan Photographer Profile.

More mushrooms on Michigan in Pictures!

Happiness is a Bowlful of Morels!

Posted on by farlane

A day's find

A day’s find, photo by HLHigham

Morels are popping up all over, and though you might not find 98 like Heather did, even a handful of these delectable  mushrooms will make it all worth it. If you’re in the Boyne City area this weekend, they hold their annual National Morel Mushroom Festival. You might also be interested in Five Things You Need to Know about Michigan Morel Mushrooms on Absolute Michigan.

Heather got this tasty haul near Rapid City and she might write about it on her blog, Rapid City Recess. Check it out background bigtacular and see more in her slideshow!

Lots more morel goodness on Michigan in Pictures!

150,000 photos and one big morel!

Posted on by farlane

Weekend Find

Weekend Find, photo by LadyDragonflyCC – See through my Eyes!

The Absolute Michigan pool on Flickr reached a major milestone that we almost missed: the 150,000th photo was added to the group by Christine aka LadyDragonflyCC!! The 100,000th photo was added 2 years ago. At that time there were about 2400 people in our group which has now grown to almost 3200 people. The group was started way back in August of 2005 and you can go back to the beginning right here.

See Christine’s photo bigger and see more in her tasty morel slideshow.

Speaking of morels, don’t miss the annual Mesick Morel Mushroom Festival today through Sunday (May 11-13) and the National Morel Mushroom Festival next weekend (May 17-20) in Boyne City.

True/False (morel)

Posted on by farlane

True | False

True | False, photo by M_Wesener

When in doubt, throw it out!
~The Mushroom Hunter’s Mantra

When you’re out looking for morels, this is one True or False question you want to get right! The False Morel page at The Great Morel exlains:

The “False Morel” has several species which carry scientific names such as Gyromitra esculenta, Verpa, Hellvella, and Disciotis. The Verpa and gyromitrin species are the most often mis-identified variety. The gyroomitrin is oten referred to as the “red mushroom”, the “beefsteak mushroom” or the “lorchel”. There are several true species of the false morel, and while some will say they can prepare and eat the false morel with no problem, others have a drastically opposite reaction to them. Hence, The Great Morel suggests that you do not attempt to digest this particular mushroom.

Research shows this species of the morel family is said to contain a toxic chemical called Gyromitrin, a toxic and possible carcinogenic chemical.

…The texture or makeup of the cap or head can typically have brain-like features, with folds in the caps, which some might describe as wrinkles, and are often brittle to the touch. The color will appear reddish or a brownish red, and will darken to almost a blackish red as the false morel ages. You can see some of this darkening beginning to take place on the image below. Sizes can vary from 2 inches to 10 inches.

One of the easiest ways of determining the false morel is by slicing it long ways. See the image below of a crosscut sectioning and note the meaty texture of the stem. False morels are not hollow, which is the most definite tip that you have stumbled up one of these ugly bad boys. The false morel shown in this image is also quite heavy as it is almost solid in the stem and meaty, and often referred to as “cottony”. Some expert mycologists go into greater detail in defining the relationship of the cap and the stem.

You can click through for some helpful photos and also check out the morel identification page at MichiganMorels.com.

Check this out bigger and in M Wesener’s slideshow.