Morels: how to flush out the best picking corners

ThoseMushroom picking –How to flush out the best corners in morels

Few this year due to the dry time, the morels are collecting from mid-March to mid-May. The end of the season could reserve a good surprise.

Posted Today at 11:48 a.m.

The morels are rare this year, very rare even. “I am a bit skeptical, because we are two-thirds of the season in the plain, and half-season in the mountains”, loose, a bit skeptical, Gauvain Demaors, municipal worker in the Val d’Anniviers (VS). This picking champion has only picked up two kilos since March, “who sometimes have dried up”, against 5 or 6 kilos normally. The fault of the lack of rain and snow in recent months.

The year would even be cursed. “The soil is dry as dust,” says Denis, retired from Genevans regularly going to Valais, with his wife, to chase the Morille. The couple only found only sixty in two weeks, “when we normally collect 50 to 60 each morning”.

Where it’s wet, there are morels

Morels love humidity. “When fall and winter have been dry, as this year, it is not enough for two weeks of rain to get them out,” notes the Genevan. In 2023 and 2024, the strong snowfall in Valais had made the harvest exceptional.

This fungus needs water and cold. “Black morel is becoming scarce with global warming”, regrets Pascal Monny, a Romand passionate about nature. Therefore, it is necessary to climb higher and higher to find it.

It is soon the end of the picking season

Today, you have to hurry to flush out the last. Because the morel season is coming to an end. “They are found from mid-March in the plain, on the well exposed hillsides, and until mid-May in the mountains,” explains Gauvain Demars.

A nice end of the season is possible at altitude. Because small morels appear with the snowfall from Easter. “Either the snow will bring out more in a week, or it’s over and there will be no more this year in central Valais,” says Gauvain Demars. In short, bets are open.

The best places for picking

The best corners? “In the plain, I sometimes pick up where there are bears, nettles, corydalis, these small spring flowers, or in hedges,” explains Pascal Monny. We also unlock under ash and hazelnut trees, and more altitude under white fir trees and spruces.

It is also a question of orientation. “They are found at the start of the season in sunny places in the morning,” notes Denis. At the end of the season, they are also unlocked on the northern sides, colder and enjoying less sun. ”

From Friborg to Geneva, there are in all the cantons. “On limestone floors, near fruit trees or sandy lake edges, and even in the charm hedges of the Jura used to delimit the fields”, enumerates Gauvain Demars. The morels hate acidic soils, for example areas where granite dominates. They like a little stirred land, where there has been work, and the clearings where there is no competition from other plants.

Morels like loneliness on the edge of forests

These mushrooms appreciate a certain loneliness and hate kiss. “It is not found in the middle of the forest, but in their edge, at the foot of the large slopes where the ground is in motion, in the coppice and hedgerows, or even at the edge of the rivers,” adds Pascal Monny.

To grow, the morels recycle the sap of trunks and branches. “We find them where trees are dead or close to those with roots injured by the Campagnols,” said the municipal worker.

How to collect a lot? “If a tree cut was made on a land in the spring, an exit from a large quantity of morels the following year is possible,” notes Denis. This is also the case one or two years after a forest fire. Then push the famous morels of fire.

In this regard, recent snowfall in the Alps are promising. Because they have dropped a large number of trees. “It’s going to be top next year for the morels in Valais,” says Gauvain Demars.

The taste varies depending on the varieties of morels

The taste of these mushrooms varies depending on the variety. “La Noire is the best,” says Jean-Michel Croidévaux, president of the Swiss Association of Official Mushroom Control Bodies (Vapko).

The black morels picked up in the mountains, with a coniferous taste, are particularly popular. “I find the blondes more delicate, with their little hazelnut taste,” says Gauvain Demars.

The secret of a good harvest? According to the municipal worker, it would be patience. “We must not zigzag in the woods, but follow the trails or corridors that the animals take,” he adds. And there, surprised, when we see one, there are generally others nearby.

The morel should not be confused with a dangerous double. “You have to pay attention to the gyromitre, also called false Morille, A toxic fungus Who can kill, ”warns Jean-Michel Froidevaux.

Watch out for fresh morels

You have to be wary of fresh morels. “They must be baked at least 20 minutes,” he recalls. The latter recommends drying them, which makes them lose a lot of components Allergens or toxic“And their taste becomes much better”.

Symptoms in case of poisoning? Large dizziness that can last two days and a powerful stomach ache that nails you in bed for 24 hours, said the president of Vapko.

In addition, it should not be eaten more than once a week, “like all mushrooms that the stomach has difficulty digesting, due to the complexity of their polymer structure”.

The dried morels are kept for several years in jars away from light. “We then rehydrate them 15 minutes in lukewarm water to rinse the toxins, water which must then be thrown, before cooking them,” advises Gauvain Demars. Insurance for gourmets when they are rare, as this year.

Nicolas Pinguely A journalist for the economic section since 2018 is a specialist in finance, he has worked in the past for Bilan magazine, Agefi and time. He also held various positions in banks and financial companies, especially in microfinance.More info

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