The market · Mushrooms · Northern and Central Europe, South Asia, The Americas

Morels

A spring mushroom with a honeycombed, hollow cap — deep, earthy and meaty.

earthy · nutty · meaty

Kinds

Fresh: A few weeks in spring.
Dried: More intense; soak them and use the strained liquid.

If you can't find it

Dried, at delis and online.

1Dried morel
About a tenth of the weight, soaked; use the strained water
You lose the meaty spring texture, a little.

Goes with

creambutter asparaguschicken

Knowing it

Where to buy: Fresh from specialist greengrocers in spring; dried from delis, and from South Asian grocers as gucchi.
Worth knowing: Always cook them — morels are toxic raw. Beware false morels, whose caps are brain-like and not hollow. Halve lengthways to check for grit.