Morel Mushrooms

Some time back, before I went vegan, Judy visited Andrew in Los Angeles and stopped at Whole Foods. She brought me home a wonderful surprise, some fresh morel mushrooms. 

morel mushrooms

I've only eaten morels once before, a package of dried morels I re-hydrated. I was not all that impressed and wanted to try fresh ones. Two years later, I got my chance. I think that what makes morels so intriguing is their appearance. The cap looks very woody, like bark, or a small pine cone, 

or even a piece of wood chewed up by termites. 

They are not appetizing looking in the least. Surprisingly, they are hollow inside, 

unlike other mushrooms I've tried, and they feel like plastic or vinyl. A cut cross-section looks like an intestine. 

Even cut-up and cooking in a frying pan with butter, they look like frying tripe. 

I am sad to say that I was not much more impressed with the fresh morels, than I was with the re-hydrated morels. They still had the plastic/vinyl texture, although the cooking mitigated it somewhat. One of the things I love about cooked mushrooms is the pleasing, moisture saturated, plump texture. The morels remained thin and somewhat stiff.

I guess I am going to have to go up several levels and have morels in a French dish, cooked by a master chef. However, the French can make cardboard taste good, so long as they add plenty of butter and cream. I kind of think that must be the solution.