Mushroom of the Month, May 2010

Where did April go to? No blog post... because we were away photographing wild orchids on Crete and then on the Gargano Peninsular, Italy. And we should add that the wildflowers, including dozens of orchid species, were absolutely marvelous. We are continually adding pages to the Wildflowers section of the First Nature website, so that's the place to go if you are a wild orchid fan. Meanwhile, what about an early season mushroom for May... well, there are plenty to choose from. St George's Mushroom, supposed to appear on 23rd April but rather delayed because of the cold winter and delayed spring, is now in evidence, but that was the subject of this blog a year ago (Mushroom of the Month, April 2009), so here's another mushroom that is easy to find in May; and it is a useful edible mushroom at that!


Auricularia auricula-judae is known as the Jelly Ear Fungus (or, perhaps less politically correct but nevertheless a strict translation of the scientific name, Jew's Ear). To find these rubbery (in anything but very dry weather, that is) purplish-brown fungi you need to look on dead elder wood - either standing or fallen trunks and branches that have decayed to the point where the bark is peeling or has fallen away. Shady, damp places are generally best of all.


A plate of these fungi would make a very disappointing meal, but if you add a few, chopped into thin strips, to any other mushroom dish the jelly fungi take in the flavour of the rest of the dish and add a very pleasant 'al dente' element. (There may be other ways of cooking Jelly Ear Fungi that we don't know about, so if you do then please post a message to this blog, as we are always interested in new recipes for nice fungi dishes.