It’s morel season in Moldova and the mushroom hunters are in the seventh heaven!

Just one cup of morel mushrooms has nearly half of the recommended daily value of iron and about a third of your daily dose of vitamin D.

Before you try morel hunting on your own, make sure you know exactly what you’re looking for. Morels have a distinctive, spongy-looking cap, but there are a few copycat mushrooms out there that look strikingly similar. 

If you’re interested in doing some of your own morel hunting, you might want to start with areas that have recently experienced a forest fire. Also have to head out to a forest or nature park. Usually, the mushrooms grow on the edges of wooded areas, especially around oak, elm, ash, and aspen trees. Look for dead or dying trees while you’re on the hunt too, because morels tend to grow right around the base.

The mushroom pickers are crawling among the valleys and hills to find those magic places, with clay and sandy soil, where morels like to grow. Actually the morels prefer the cherry trees and aspens to extend their families. But you never know why they don’t grow there where all the books say they should grow.

Comoared to other mushroom, morels are not mushy. They have a meaty texture and a nuty flavor. Very tasty with pasta,rice, potatoes, etc

When picking morels, be sure to cut them off at the bottom rather than trying to yank them out of the ground. This ensures the root system stays intact, and they may regrow next season.

Here you can see how I usually cook morels.

Photos credits: Iurii Dnestreanski