Dried Morels

The black mushroom or morels of commerce, belong to genus Morchella, of the class Ascomycete, and comprising of about a dozen species, of which M. esculenta, M. conica and M. angusticipt are of considerable economic importance. The morels are prized for culinary uses, particularly as a gourmet food. They are used in gravies sauces and soups. Morels are not only delicious, but also very healthy food. They contain 42 per cent high quality protein on dry weight basis, which is quite high as compared to other edible plant products. Morels are low in calories and rich in minerals. The morels appear in spring immediately after snow melt and are best recognised by their fleshy consistency of the pitted head on a stalk. Though they rate among the best of all the edible fungi, until now they have not been grown commercially with success.