Fire morels
Morchella spp.
The spring after a wildfire, morels rise by the thousand from the ash: a fleeting, spectacular harvest in the Canadian West.
The morel is the most sought-after mushroom of spring, and the easiest to recognize: a hollow cap pitted like a sponge or honeycomb, fused to a stem that is hollow too. Sliced lengthwise, it is empty from top to bottom. That is what sets it apart from false morels, whose insides are cottony.
The fire-morel phenomenon
In the conifer forests of the West, something astonishing happens the year after a fire. The burned ground, still black, erupts with morels by the thousand, usually in May and June, in a window of a few weeks. Nobody knows exactly why. Nomadic pickers follow the wildfire maps of British Columbia, the Yukon and Alberta, camp on the burns and fill buckets from the ash. It is a seasonal economy, hard and exhilarating, that sustains whole villages.
Origin
The shop's morels come from these British Columbia pickers. They are dried on site within days of harvest, which concentrates their aroma. Étienne chooses them small and very dark, whole, and free of ash.
In the kitchen
Rehydrated in warm water they regain their springy texture and their woody, smoky, nutty taste. The strained soaking water is a precious stock. They love cream, butter and the first asparagus of May.
Our products are artisanal plant-based preparations. They are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
