morels

Fresh Irish morels picked by Louis Smith author of 'Forest Fungi in Ireland' Morels

Spring and early summer is a time when the countryside really comes to life. Early season fruits and vegetables become abundant as do the selection of seafood’s available. But one wild food which grows in spring and early summer which seems oddly out of season is also one of Ireland’s greatest delicacies.

The Morel mushroom is unusual as it is an early season mushroom and would be regarded by many gourmets as second only to the truffle in terms of taste, indeed a great many, myself included would regard the morel as the superior mushroom. The morel is an odd looking mushroom of which there are many in the genus for example the black morel or morchella elata. The mushroom has a honeycomb structure and would be regarded by the untrained eye as a ‘pooky mushroom’. In fact all morels contain helvellic acid which is highly toxic but easily destroyed on cooking so morels must never be consumed raw. Additionally and as is the case with all wild mushrooms expert identification is also of crucial importance.

When Louise Smith lecturer of culinary arts in GMIT and author of the outstanding ‘Forest Fungi in Ireland’ calls into the kitchen of Oscars with what could be regarded as a treasure in fresh morels its easy to get a bit excited.

One of the best flavour pairings in the culinary world is morels and cream and this combination can produce some of the most decadent sauces possible. When using ingredients which are as good as fresh morels its best to keep any dish as simple as possible as to show off the core ingredient as much as possible.

One very simple dish would be simple pasta of fresh morels flavoured with a little fresh tarragon.
For a great pasta recipe which is by Frank O’Conner lecturer at GMIT

1 kg ‘00’ flour

2 whole eggs

460 gram egg yolk

80 gram milk

32 gram olive oil

Knead for 15 minutes and allow rest for one hour

Feed through a pasta machine to produce a fine fettuccini, blanch in boiling salted water and refresh.
To make a morel cream
1 large shallot chopped fine

100 grams morel mushrooms chopped to a medium size

50 ml white wine

50 ml chicken stock

100 ml fresh cream

5 grams of butter

5 grams fresh tarragon chopped fine

Sweat the butter, shallots and morels in a thick based pot until soft but cook without colour. Add the white wine and reduce by half, then add the chicken stock and again reduce by half. Finally add the cream and allow reduce gently until a coating sauce like consistency is achieved. Adjust seasoning and finish with the tarragon.

To serve simply toss the fresh pasta in the morel cream and serve straight away.

By Michael O’Meara chef at Oscars bistro Galway city www.oscarsbistro.ie