Mushroom of the Year The Judas ear is the ideal mushroom to get started

When the first leaves fall and the days get shorter, mushroom scientists will be drawn into the forest. The Judas ear is often overlooked in nature. The edible mushroom is shaped like an auricle and therefore easy to identify even for beginners. There are no poisonous doppelgangers. The Judas ear can be found all year round. However, the ideal collection time is in cold and cold weather in autumn and winter, without it freezing.

Mushroom of the Year: Judas ear. Image: celticgarden - fotolia

The German Society of Mycology chose the Judas ear (Auricularia auricula-judae) as the mushroom of the year 2017 in order to draw attention to the extraordinary representative. The name goes back to a legend: The disciple Judas is said to have hanged himself on an elder tree after he betrayed Jesus by a kiss.

In fact, the Judas ear thrives particularly well on older strains of the black elder and is therefore also referred to as elder sponge. It feeds on the wood and slowly degrades it. It is rarely found on other deciduous trees such as maple and beech. The outside of the mushroom is reddish brown to violet-gray and feels velvety, while the inside is smooth. On the tree he gets only irregular water. For this reason, he has developed the ability to shrink in drought and swell when it rains.

The Judas ear not only grows wild in the woods, but is also grown on wood in mushroom growers. The species is closely related to the Mur-erh (Auricularia polytricha), also called Chinese morel. The taste of Judas ear is rather neutral. It goes well with mushroom and Asian wok dishes and is great for drying in the pantry. Heike Kreutz, aid