The German Mycological Society has chosen the jelly ear as mushroom of the year 2017. Jelly ears are popular as a dish, but often overlooked in the wild.
This mushroom, which looks like an ear is often served in Chinese restaurants and loves wet winter weather. The Jelly ear is the mushroom of the year 2017.
In the announcement, the jelly ear is described as easily recognisable, but it is still not a very well known variety.
Foragers usually collect porcini, chanterelles and bay boletes, but jelly ears (Auricularia auricula-judae) rarely end up in the forager’s basket. Not many know this ear-shaped mushroom, which even the inexperienced forager can recognise. The jelly ear, with the Chinese name Mu-Err or "Chinese morel" is popular in Chinese cuisine and is often served in Asian restaurants, explained the mycologists.
Jelly ears, also known as wood ears or tree ears, used to be named Judas's ear and eventually became Jew's ear. The name Judas's ear refers to the apostle, Judas Iscariot, who allegedly hanged himself from an elder tree, because the mushroom often grows on the more mature trunks and branches of the elder tree. It feeds on the tree and gradually degrades the wood. Scientists still haven’t discovered why the jelly ear prefers elder to maple and beech trees.
The jelly ear is easy to cultivate and and is already commercially cultivated as an ingredient for alternative medicine in Germany. The tan, reddish brown cartilaginous and jelly-like mushroom grows on deciduous trees and has developed an unusual strategy to cope with an irregular water supply. If there isn’t enough water the mushroom dries out, but re-hydrates when the water supply is sufficient.
The mushroom is present all year round, especially during winter when it is wet and cold but with temperatures above freezing. “Basically, when it is wet," states Wolfgang Prüfert, vice president of the German Mycological Society.
It is almost the right time of the season for the amateur foragers. The jelly ear is an ideal mushroom for beginners, states the German Mycological Society, as there are no similar, poisonous, mushrooms that can cause possible confusion.