Morchella esculenta
Morchella esculenta
Common Name: Morel
Type: Gourmet
The morel is an unbelievably tasty mushroom, attracting foragers from far and wide wherever it decide to fruit. Chefs and foodies alike will happily shell out big buck to get their hands on a basket of fresh morels. In fact, there’s an entire economy built up around the market for wild-harvested morels.
Because they fetch such high prices, people have been trying to cultivate Morels for decades- but with almost zero commercial success.
They were just thought to be too hard to grow!
Recently though, there have been breakthroughs in the cultivation of this once elusive species.
Check out this video below of a Morel farm in China.
eeling inspired yet?
There are currently projects underway to grow morels on a commercial scale in the US, mainly using indoor cultivation techniques. More breakthroughs in morel cultivation techniques would certainly have a massive impact on the wild mushroom market.