The story of the morel …

Huh?

As I was surveying things in the garden today, I noticed an oddity coming up in the chewed up old spinach bed.

At first glance it looked like a white lipped fish head of some sort had been partially buried. Funny lips, a mossy green color with a light patten on it. Yeah, a garden grouper.

But was it?

It would appear that this isn’t a fish at all, in fact, it is a fungus, a ‘shroon. It looks like it is a member of the Morchellaceae family, a “true morel”, likely a “classic black morel” (even though it is looking more green than black right now).

A long time ago, the hungriest man in the world (at the time) tried eating one of these. Apparently he didn’t die and it was tasty enough to be remembered. Really? Yes, really, here is a recipe page.

Disclaimer: I am not a mycologist . If you eat this or any similar mushroom and end up pushing bile out through your nostrils, or worse, it would NOT be my fault, it would be your fault. I do not advocate eating or tasting wild mushrooms of any type based on an amateur garden blogger’s posts.