BY JENNIFER MOONSONG
GLASGOW NEWS 1
Toni McCluskey-Cowles and her son Dalton are fourth- and fifth-generation mushroom hunters.
PHOTO SUBMITTED BY TONI MCCLUSKEY-COWLES
There are all kinds of hunters, but when April comes around, morel mushroom hunting is popular in the woodlands of southcentral Kentucky. Colloquially known as “dry land fish” because of their shape and flavor, the hunting of the most unusual looking fungi is steeped in old Appalachian tradition and passed down from generation to generation.
“My family has been hunting dry land fish for at least four generations,” Toni McCluskey-Cowles said.
She is a co-owner of a Glasgow business and Edmonson County resident who spent her childhood days in the southern portion of Barren County on her grandparents’ farm hunting dry land fish with her family. McCluskey-Cowles recalls scavenging for the coveted morels since the early 1980s. Decades later, she has never lost the thrill of the hunt.
Sizes on the coveted morel mushroom vary greatly.
PHOTO SUBMITTED BY TONI MCCLUSKEY-COWLES
“My passion is hunting morels. And this is because my grandmother and father took me hunting starting when I was a toddler. My passion for this hobby is deep because of them. It’s in my blood,” McCluskey-Cowles said.
The huntress loves cooking and eating the mushrooms she finds, but she could never eat all of them.
“I found 1,349 in 2020. I love sharing them with family and friends. That was probably the most in one year. I’ve found a hundred this year already, but the season is not over yet,” she joked.
When McCluskey-Cowles cooks them at home, she has two preferred methods of preparation. She dredges them in an egg wash, rolls them in a dry mix of cornmeal and flour and cooks them in a scant amount of oil. This was the traditional Appalachian recipe handed down to her. As an adult, she has found others’ recipes.
Toni McCluskey-Cowles weighs over 3 pounds of morel mushrooms.
PHOTO SUBMITTED BY TONI MCCLUSKEY-COWLES
“My second-favorite way to cook them is to sauté them in Worcestershire sauce and garlic,” she said.
Wes Simpson of Barren County and his father-in-law, Don Baker, have also made a family tradition of the outdoor hobby.
“When I was younger in my teenage years my brother and uncle use to go, but I did not really get heavily into it until I met my wife Brittany and discovered that her father loved to hunt them, so I started taking it seriously,” Simpson said.
“I got even more into it now that my daughters can participate,” Simpson added.
His three girls, June, Aida and Sadie are now a big part of the family tradition.
“We actually took June before she could even hunt. My wife took her in a baby carrier,” he said.
Like with most mushroom hunters, it is about way more than just finding mushrooms.
Don Baker, right, his granddaughter June Simpson and his son-in-law Wes Simpson, left, along with the youngest granddaughter Sadie Simpson, have found hundreds of morels this year.
PHOTO SUBMITTED BY DON BAKER
“I have never gone into the woods and came out in a bad mood. I think everyone battles the same thing with children wanting to be inside and connected to a screen. It has just been a really good family activity. Everyone gets pumped and creating a family tradition that maybe they pass down is cool,” Simpson said.
His favorite way to prepare the mushrooms is the traditional fried way, but Simpson says Baker is more adventurous and likes to eat morels on pizza and burgers.
Simpson and McCluskey-Cowles have both passed the tradition along to their children.
“My favorite thing I love about hunting mushrooms is I get to be one with nature, and completely surrounded by Mother Nature. Of course, that is in addition to the thrill of finding the mushrooms. It’s not easy and it is not something everyone has had the privilege to do,” said Dalton Wilson, McCluskey-Cowles’ son.
He added that his favorite mushroom-hunting memory was his first dry land fish expedition on the family farm with his mother and aunt.
“I just loved it from the first time,” he said.
The Simpson family uses morel foraging as a reason to get away from screen time and into the great outdoors.
PHOTO SUBMITTED BY DON BAKER
Aida Simpson, left, and June Simpson, right, and their grandfather, Don Baker, have a tradition of mushroom hunting each spring.
PHOTO SUBMITTED BY DON BAKER
Aida Simpson, from left, and her sister, June Simpson, have found hundreds of morel mushrooms this year.
PHOTO SUBMITTED BY DON BAKER
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