Last weekend my wife and I had a friend over for a chill night of board games, drinks and geekery — the usual for us. The evening took an unexpected turn into gourmet dining land when our buddy pulled out a brown paper bag of a half pound of morels purchased from the San Francisco Embarcadero Ferry Building. (They apparently had a flash sale and were half off, probably for Easter or due to overstock.)

Having never tried or even seen these beautiful and rare delectables, our party consulted the Google for more information, cooking tips, and potential dangers to be aware of when dealing with such a prize.

Here is what we discovered:

Morels are freaking delicious. Perhaps the most tasty thing we’ve ever eaten that requires literally no preparation work to enjoy instantly. In fact, after you’ve devoured them all like we did — a technique similar to wild wildabeasts — you cry a little inside and demand more by slamming your fists on the table.

We learned that sautéing them in butter and lightly salting is the classic way to prepare them, and that did not disappoint! You can also use olive oil, and there are several other methods, but we stuck with what was most recommended and easiest. Yeah, I know… instant gratification. 🙂

It was all fun and games with Google until we learned that eating morels RAW will harm you, as they contain a TOXIC compound. Luckily, all you have to do is cook them and poof! You’ve got the green light for a foodgasm.

However, don’t jump the gun just yet as you need to ensure that the morels are “true morels” and not “false morels”. Thank you Mushroom Kingdom for making this journey even more complicated than it needs to be!

True morels are hollow on the inside, whereas false morels contain a white mycelium (cotton-like threads). They are also poisonous, so there’s that to be aware of. Cutting them in half to check is absolutely necessary to ensure you’ll be waking up the next day.

With all of these things considered, we dove into our tasty treat and… seriously… have been craving them ever since.

If you haven’t had an opportunity to try morels, I highly recommend searching them out and giving them a shot. Your taste buds will never forget the awesomeness that they are gifted!

-s-w-