Fiddlehead ferns are nice. The first local asparagus is delicious of course. But for me the first really exciting food to sprout out of the ground and announce the arrival of the growing season is the morel mushroom.
The truffle must be hunted in winter with specially trained dogs and pigs. It then has to be dug from the ground (before the dogs or pigs eat it) and brought to the kitchen. The truffle rules over our winter plates and palates with heady, dark, deep and funky aromas that add depth and character to winter foods.
The morel is hunted in summer. No one has been able to reproduce the complexity of wild morels. The factors that control when and where they grow are little understood, having to do with very particular temperature, humidity, nutrition and carbon dioxide levels. We do know that there is often great success in areas of woodland that were burned in forest fires the previous summer. Hunters don't need dogs, pigs or shovels; just a mushrooming knife and a basket. The scent of the morel is that of spring itself: woodsy and smoky.
Well, morels are here! They're still a bit expensive as the first always are, but a few warm days have forced this first fruiting and we just can't wait. At Stage Left, we're celebrating with a Morel Tasting Menu all week, and a special Morel Tasting Menu for Good Friday!
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