Welcome to the summary page for FabulousFusionFood's Wild Food guide to Common Morel along with all the Common Morel containing recipes presented on this site, with 15 recipes in total.

These recipes, all contain Common Morel as a major wild food ingredient.

The Common Morel, Morchella vulgaris is a species of honeycomb-shaped fungi and is a member of the Morchellaceae (morel) family of ascomycete (that typically reproduce sexually using non-motile spores) fungi. They prefer well-drained sandy, chalky and lime-based soils and can be found in a range of habitats, including open woodland, under ash and elm trees, and in old hedges and gardens. They are most frequent during the first three years after a forest fire. They also grow in the same spot every year so once you've spotted a morel growing area you can return again and again. It is a native of Europe and North America. It is one of the earliest of the edible mushrooms, first appearing in April and most prominent in May. Morels are beloved of gourmands, especially in France, but they do contain small amounts of toxins which are removed through cooking and should never be eaten raw. This also removes the risk of poisoning from the Helvelacea which look very similar but are poisonous if not cooked.

Morels are very variable in appearance but always have caps covered in deep honeycomb pits. The cap of the common morel is conical or ovate with a network of irregular ridges and pits arranged like labyrinths. The pits usually aren’t has polygonal shaped (honeycomb like) as the ones of the Yellow Morel. The cap is hollow and joined to the stem at its edge. The cap usually remains grey to dark grey for a long time before becoming paler, light brown or ochraceous grey, or occasionally creamy white. The ridges are thick and lighter coloured, specially white when young The Common Morel is highly variable so size and colour can vary greatly within this particular mushroom

The stem is typically hite/cream, more or less hollow, with uneven furrows run vertically up the stem.

It’s usually much thicker towards the base in a shape that is often compared to an elephant foot. The flesh is fairly thin and white on the inside. With a faint pleasant smell that intensifies after drying. The spore print is pale cream to yellow and the spores are ellipsoid.

As an early-fruiting fungus the morel is distinctive and culinarily important. For the most part it can only be confused with other morels which are edible. The taste is very good but requires thorough cleaning to remove mud, debris and insects. A good mushroom to dehydrate. Must be well cooked before consumption. All Morels are poisonous when raw or undercooked causing gastric upsets and other alarming symptoms. Its most distinguishing feature is that the stem, though hollow is multi-chambered, just as the cap is. True morels have hollow stems. This is why all morels should be halved lengthways to check inside (this also aids with even cooking).

Its firm texture makes the Morel excellent for pickling and preserving by drying it also makes an excellent mushroom powder if dried and ground.

Possible Confusion:

The False Morel (Gyromitra esculenta), pictured, but this is more lobed or brain-like rather than the pitted and honeycomb like cap of the morel. The False Morel also differs in not having a completely hollow cap.

The Black Morel (Morchella importuna) can be similar, even in colour when young, but usually the ridges are arranged in fairly regular vertical lines, unlike the completely random honeycomb of the Yellow Morels. The ridges on the Black Morel also become darker than the rest of the cap with age, unlike the paler ridges of Yellow Morels.

The Common Morel (Morchella vulgaris) is very closely related to the Morel. It is usually more grey in colour specially when young. The ridges of the cap are thicker and the pits are more irregular and labyrinthic in shape. The Morel has thinner edges and polygonal shaped pits. Intermediate forms exist that may be hard to differentiate at the very young or very mature stage.

For other edible mushrooms, see the guide to edible mushrooms

References:

[1]. David Evans Notes from field observations, tastings and cookery experiments.
[2]. Huxley, A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1999
[3]. Tanaka, T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World.
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[5]. Thomas, G. S. Perennial Garden Plants, 2004
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[7]. Rose, F. & O'Reilly, C. The Wild Flower Key (Revised Edition) — How to identify wild plants, trees and shrubs in Britain and Ireland, 2006
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[9]. Clapham, A.R.; Tutin, T.G. & Moore, D.M. Flora of the British Isles, 1987
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[12]. Bunker, F. Seaweeds of Britain and Ireland, Second Edition, 2017
[13]. Facciola, S. Cornucopia II — A Source Book of Edible Plants, 1998
[14]. Hartford, R. Edible and Medicinal Wild Plants of Britain and Ireland: A Foraging and Photographic Identification Guide
(Note that the above book links are Amazon Affiliate links)