Hickory chicken

Hickory chicken pronunciation

/HICK-ree CHICK-un/

Meaning

Hickory chicken is not poultry. It is what some Appalachian folks call morels, the honeycombed spring mushrooms people hunt under hardwoods. The name comes from finding them near hickory trees and from frying them up until they taste closer to chicken or fish than fungus. Same critter gets called dry-land fish or molly moochers in other hollers.

How folks use it

• “Daddy come back with a poke full of hickory chickens after that warm rain.”
• “We fried them hickory chickens in butter and cleaned the plate.”

Origin and etymology

Appalachian folk name for morels, well attested in mountain food writing and oral history. Eastern Kentucky and nearby hills are often cited. Speakers tied the name to morels growing under hickories and to the way they eat when battered and fried. Not a store brand; a woods name.

Frequently asked questions