Black morel ◆

Morille conique

What it is

It comes up in March, a good month before the blonde, taller and sharper-capped, its pits so dark they read as black in the leaf litter. Fresh it smells of surprisingly little; dried it is by far the more perfumed of the two, which is why the conique dominates the dried trade while the blonde is sold fresh.

In the kitchen

Buy this one dried and the blonde fresh. Soak 20 g in warm water for half an hour, keep the liquid, let the grit settle and pour off the clear part; its thicker walls hold their shape in a cream sauce where a blonde goes to rags.

Goes with

Cream Chicken Butter Shallot Thyme Pea Garlic

Same species

Blonde morel Morel

In season alongside

Figatellu Musky truffle Lamb neck Lamb shoulder Lamprey Nettle

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