Adding to their mystique is the fact that morels are impossible to cultivate commercially; they can only be foraged.
Moreover, the mushrooms are not always found in the same place from season to season, confusing harvesters.
In India, where they grow on the slopes of the Himalayas, morels are known as gucchis (the Chinese call them yang du jun, meaning lamb’s stomach mushrooms). “Gucchis grow in clusters on logs of decaying wood, leaves or humus soil where the moisture level is ideal for such fungi to flourish. Harvesters start at the crack of dawn and often spend an entire day wandering through challenging terrain, sometimes digging through thick snow just to find only a few morels,” says Rakesh Handa, an entrepreneur who is fortunate in that morels grow in the forests fringing his apple orchards in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh.
An Indian treat made with a betel leaf that’s recommended in the Kama Sutra
In India, morels grow in only two months of the year – March and April, just after the snow has melted. Collecting them is back-breaking work – they are often hidden under the grass, and camouflaged by their brownish colour and crinkled tops.
“They require sharp eyesight to spot,” says Handa. “This is why it is mostly children – some as young as six – who hunt for them.”
Gucchi harvesting is often a community activity in India’s hills. While women and children forage along the forest fringes, the men go deeper into the woods. A five- to six-hour trek may yield only 20 to 30 grams (0.65 to 1oz) of morels – and sometimes none. Once collected, the morels are brought home, threaded into garlands and hung up on a nail to dry in the kitchen or spread out to dry in the sunlight. In a few days, they are ready to be sold to local shopkeepers or agents.
Although morels may retail for US$500 to US$600 per kilo, the harvesters get only a fraction of the profit. Most of it goes to the middlemen because of the skewed dynamics of the morel trade.
“The locals can’t afford to keep the morels for their own use. Everything that is collected is sold to earn their livelihood. In fact, 90 per cent of the crop is exported to the West, where they command a high premium. Only 10 per cent or less remains within the country and [they end up] mostly on five-star hotel menus, making it beyond the reach of the common man,” Handa says.
Experts recommend letting morels dry naturally. “Make sure you clean the stem of any dirt, and shake out any bugs taking refuge. In other words – if you rinse, do not soak. Just rinse, de-bug and pat dry to remove as much moisture as possible,” advises the website thegreatmorel.com.
Though gucchi kebabs and tandoori gucchi are popular dishes in India, some cooks say the morel’s flavour is best enjoyed in the rice dish known as pulao which is served at special occasions such as weddings and births.
“I use the same water in which they are soaked, which gives the dish a nice nutty flavour with a meaty texture. It is always better to slice the mushroom and then cook it to extract maximum flavour. Over spicing and heavy marination can ruin them,” says Kashmiri home cook Veena Mattoo.
In Kashmiri cuisine, gucchis are diced and tossed with mild spices, often served in the same wok used to cook them in, Mattoo adds.
The morels have a long history in Kashmir. Saints and sages would roam the wilds, collecting and eating the nutritious mushrooms to sustain them for months. The Mughal emperors enjoyed them in gucchi yakhni (cooked in a rich yogurt gravy) and gucchi pulao. Experienced chefs who specialised in cooking these morels were hired by royal courts just to cook a range of Mughlai, Kashmiri and Awadhi dishes with them, Mattoo says.
Cordon Bleu-trained, New Delhi-based chef Bani Nanda says that she got hooked on gucchi during the coronavirus lockdown, when they arrived from her orchards in the hills of Uttaranchal state.
“The house was full of their lovely aroma so it was impossible not to cook with them. My mother-in-law makes a great gucchi pulao so I mastered that recipe first,” Nanda explains.
“The morels also lend themselves well to fillings due to their cavities, so next I stuffed them with cream cheese, drizzled olive oil on them and grilled them. From the leftover water after washing them, I made a buttery sauce which I served alongside. The family loved the dish and the compliments are still pouring in!”
According to Arun Sundararaj, executive chef at the Taj Mahal Hotel, New Delhi, the morel’s robust flavour and remarkable versatility makes it a perfect ingredient for both Indian and European dishes. Varq, the hotel’s award-winning Indian cuisine restaurant, offers the popular varqi khumb – a layered dish where the morel is encased in a filo pastry after being sautéed in turmeric butter, carom seeds and a dash of cream. It is then stuffed with potatoes mashed in light spices.
The Taj hotel’s exclusive club, The Chambers, also offers a starter of morel inveltino, where the gucchi is stuffed with cream cheese and roasted peppers. The latter adds a dash of piquancy and crunch to the delicate mushroom. The dish is priced at US$50, and is available only by request.
Sundararaj cautions that both buying and cleaning the morels needs vigilance. “Applying too much pressure whilst cleaning may damage it. But thorough cleaning is essential to flush out dirt from its tiny crevices. Care also needs to be taken so that their pleated honeycomb texture is retained,” he says.
“Dry gucchis need to be soaked in hot water for at least an hour to soften them and wash out the dirt that may cling on to their skin. Also, while buying, be careful to check that their cavities aren’t full of pebbles. Clever producers are known to fill them with stones to increase their weight, which fetches a higher price.”
The gastronomic treat is also a trove of health benefits, say nutritionists. “Potassium, vitamins, copper, antioxidants … you name it, the morels have them all,” says nutritionist Shikha Aggarwal.
“The high amounts of antioxidants in the morels help ward off free radicals that cause ageing and age-related diseases. When we oxidise our food to produce energy, free radicals are released. These are unstable atoms that can be quite toxic and end up damaging cells, triggering illnesses. Replenishing antioxidants in the body facilitates protection against this.”
Given the morel’s exalted culinary status and prohibitive price tag, it is no surprise that it attracts smugglers too. During the coronavirus lockdown, cases of illegal morel hunting were reported from villages across Kashmir.
“Lack of employment and poverty is driving many to smuggling morels. They are sold to city retailers where they fetch a good price. This activity has become a source of income for many villagers of late in the valley,” explains Asif Mohammed, a resident of Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir where morels flourish.
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