Welcome to the BWCAW blog of Ely Outfitting Company and Boundary Waters Guide Service!

See our websites at ElyOutfittingCompany.com and BoundaryWatersGuideService.com.

We are a Boundary Waters canoe trip outfitter, Quetico outfitter, and guide service in Ely, Minnesota. This Boundary Waters blog shares photos, stories, humor, skills, and naturalist insights from guiding in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW).

Most entries are from our founder and head guide, Jason Zabokrtsky. He is the Boundary Waters Blogger.

Monday, May 18, 2009

False Morels - Deadly Portage Mushrooms

False morel mushrooms are sprouting up along BWCA portages and area hiking trails. I saw my first of the season a few days ago. Yesterday we saw about a dozen along the Bass Lake Trail near Ely.

These false morels are deadly. Eaten raw they may lead to diarrhea and vomiting within a few hours. That's followed by dizziness, lethargy, and headache. Then, in severe cases, delirium, coma, and death in five to seven days.

However, some in Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, and around Ely, consider them a delicacy when prepared properly. The toxin in false morels is gyromitrin. The toxin, or some portion of it, is released by drying, par boiling, or sauteing. During these processes, the toxin is released as a gas. If cooked indoors without proper ventilation, the gas may poison the preparer.

Most guidebooks and wilderness guides wisely recommend treating all raw or cooked false morels as poisonous. Some research suggests that eating even properly prepared false morels may lead to poisoning. That is because individual false morels may contain different levels of the toxin, preparation methods reduce the toxins but may not eliminate them, and individuals react differently to different levels of the toxin.

With that said, I've eaten several meals of Ely-area false morels sauteed with butter. Their consistency and taste is remarkably similar to the safe gourmet true morel mushrooms. I had no known ill effects. However, since learning more about the significant potential dangers of false morels, I've concluded the risk probably isn't worth the benefit of this hazardous morsel.

Pictured are false morels on the Bass Lake Trail on May 17.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Hey Jason, We learned something new about the false morels. Thanks for the pics and medical facts. We will probably use it in one of our wilderness talks. The sourdough lives on!!
Dorothy and Larry

Jason Zabokrtsky said...

Dorothy and Larry, glad you found the false morel info interesting and useful. I wonder if there is some antitoxin if someone suffers from the toxic affects after consumer this dangerous morsel? Maybe your medical research will find info on that. Glad you like the sourdough!