Destination Up North UpNorth-Spring_19_NB | Page 20

Mushroom
hunters look
forward to
their spring
‘season’
Morchella esculenta,
commonly known
as the morel, was
named the official
mushroom of the
state of Minnesota
in 1984 (Submitted
photo)
BY SUE WEBBER • CONTRIBUTING WRITER
W
e can all think of multiple ways in
which Minnesota outranks other
states. Here’s one more: Minnesota is
one of only two states in the U.S. to recognize a
state mushroom. (Oregon is the other.)
Enter mycology:
the scientific study of fungi.
John Lamprecht, a native of Waterloo, Iowa,
who now lives in Burnsville and is president
of the Minnesota Mycological Society (MMS),
says, “I was raised to be terrified of mushrooms
because I was told they had no nutrition, they
had a texture like rubber erasers and they didn’t
taste good.
Laetiporus
sulphureus, AKA
Chicken of the
Woods or Sulpher
Shelf (Submitted
photo)
“In the 1950s there was a botulism scare for
canned mushrooms, and that added to the
hysteria.” But then, Lamprecht says, “I married
into a crazy family 45 years ago. I married
Claudette, a girl from northeast Iowa whose
family hunted mushrooms in the spring and
fall. My late mother-in-law, Loretta, who died
12 years ago, was the matriarch of all things
mushroom.”
Ten years ago, Lamprecht decided to join the
mycological society and subsequently became
president. His wife is treasurer.
In Minnesota, the mushroom season starts with
morels and then a couple of others – oyster
and chicken of the woods. Chanterelle are the
most popular mushrooms worldwide, John says.
“They’re highly sought after in northern Europe,
especially Germany.”
20 destinationupnorth.com
Cantharellus
phasmatis, AKA
Ghost Chanterelle
(Submitted photo)