About the Film
This film explores the secretive traditions surrounding morel mushroom hunting, including legends, search strategies, tall tales, festivals, supportstions and family recipes. Morel mushroom appear in Indiana and other parts of the Midwest for only a short time each season, sometimes as short as two to three weeks. Superstitions and folk beliefs abound as to when they will appear and how to find them, since they may not show up in the same places twice. Legends are shared among family members, friends, and fellow morel hunters about stumbling upon an area in the woods covered in morels; finding a morel 2 feet tall; or of the family who survives the year on the money they can make selling only the morels they find during hunting season. Morels are so coveted in Indiana that there are festivals devoted to the mushroom, with hunting competitions and auctions as well the more standard festival fare. Follow some diehard hunters into the woods to discover the myths, legends, techniques, beliefs, and triumphs of morel mushroom hunting. And then follow them into the kitchen to learn how people transform these fungi into regional culinary delights. PERMISSION NOT REQUIRED FOR CLASSROOM USE
