Jelly Ears?

After a trip to the tip and a quick visit to the garden centre to purchase a Sorbus 'Joseph Rock', we came home and had a lovely long Skype chat with Chris and Lizzy, who are now in Cambodia, their favourite country so far. Chris has had another bout of illness but is better now, so hopefully they can enjoy their last four days before moving on to Vietnam. They've decided that they'll be travelling to the end of May, and have suggested that Alex flies out to meet them in Malaysia. He's never been abroad before, but after the initial shock of the idea, seems excited about the prospect and confident that he'll be able to cope with the flight to Kuala Lumpur.

Much clearance was carried out in the garden this afternoon. I cut back the dead growth of many perennials, which are now shooting again from the base and also cleared an area to plant a Giant Angelica Angelica gigas, which could grow to 8 feet in height! Alex and Pete topped some of the row of tall Leylandii at the end of the garden, using our recently purchased giant step ladder. The gardening was brought to a rather abrupt end by an almighty thunder and hail storm, which left the patio completely covered in white hailstones.

While I was outside I hunted around for extra species for our garden survey list, which now numbers 200 species, and came across a very large colony of Jew's Ear Fungus on some dead elder. In a climate of political correctness the Jew's Ear fungus is now often referred to as Jelly Ear fungus. But this sanitisation ignores the etymology of its scientific name Auricularia auricula-judae. Auricula is a Latin word meaning ear. Judae means Judas, the Jew who it is said betrayed Jesus. This specie often grows on Elder which is linked to Judas Iscariot through the legend that he hanged himself on an Elder tree in shame after betraying Jesus Christ to his executioners. The 'ears' that emerge from Elder wood were thought to be visible residues of Judas' tormented spirit.

In the far-east Jew’s Ears are a popular addition to many soups and stews, they are either added dried and in powder form to help flavour and thicken, or cut into strips and added fresh. In China the medicinal properties of the Jew’s Ear has been recognized for centuries: they are believed to be an excellent remedy for colds and flu by lowering the body’s temperature. I thought I might harvest a few of ours and try adding them to one of the dishes we're cooking for our annual banquet to celebrate Chinese New Year next Friday.