“Magic Mushroom” takes a wide selection of guests – from the famous Le Bernardin in Manhattan to astronauts in space – on a wild trip.
Funky mushrooms, often known as Fy, rhyme with sci-fi, are a protein created from a microbe found by a NASA-funded geomicrobiologist within the acidic hot springs of Yellowstone National Park.
Astronauts now study these mushrooms in space as a food source on long missions. Back on Earth, chef Eric Ripert uses Fy in several dishes at Le Bernardin, a Michelin-starred seafood sanctuary that La Liste named the very best restaurant on this planet last month.
“We call it here, for fun, ‘magic mushroom’. It’s principally magic,” Ripert told Side Dish. “It tastes like nothing, like milk with a slight umami aftertaste.”
For the past six months, Ripert has been serving Fy in his desserts, including chamomile ice cream and pumpkin blossom treat. He also recently included it within the savory Yukon Gold Potato with olive oil and vierge sauce, in his $220 vegetarian tasting menu, and in his hazelnut cold dessert.
“He’s very versatile. Because it is protein, it doesn’t break. You possibly can turn it into chicken nuggets, whatever,” said Ripert as he prepared a dish of potatoes in his restaurant’s kitchen, with assistants circling around him with the devoted intensity and agility of a French World Cup soccer team.
Fy’s taste is not just limited to a select few space travelers or those that have booked Le Bernardin.
Nature’s Fynd, a Chicago-based food technology company, makes Fy products, comparable to dairy-free cream cheese and breakfast patties, which retail for around $5 in grocery stores. Yogurt might be next, together with other products to be revealed in 2023, said Karuna Rawal, Nature Fynd’s chief marketing officer.
Eight ounce containers of cream cheese can be found next to Le Bernardin at L’Ami Pierre, a French fast-food cafe on East 51st St. where Ripert is partnered along with his friend Pierre-Antoine Raberin. L’Ami Pierre smears Fy with possibly the world’s best baguettes for making sandwiches with smoked salmon and other vegetarian dishes.
Fy is part of the food technology trend that uses fermentation to convert microbes into alternative proteins which can be quick and low-cost to provide. It was discovered by NASA-backed scientists who wanted to provide food sources on other planets.
But Yellowstone’s discovery is part of decades-long research into mycoproteins, also often known as mycelium. Unlike plant-based meat alternatives created from peas, soybeans and wheat, mycelium – created from fungi reasonably than plants – doesn’t take up much land or water.
The first mycelium product, the meat pie, was introduced within the UK in 1985 by Quorn, although research began as early because the Sixties.
“These are amazing ingredients that we consider will find their way into our food chain,” Lawson told Side Dish. “It’s healthy and cost-effective, and no animals are harmed. What’s not to love?”
Ripert added: “Big difference between [mycelium] and soybeans is that with soybeans, you will have to till the land and use water, fertilizers and pesticides. It doesn’t require anything.
The microbe Fy grows within the acidic liquid present in Yellowstone’s hot springs, that are “unfriendly to bacteria and organisms which may otherwise contaminate them, rendering pesticides and antibiotics unnecessary,” in line with NASA’s website.
The tray – which looks like baked slices of lasagna – lasts several days and comprises the equivalent amount of protein present in 20 chickens, said Ripert.
“For us, it’s fascinating, versatile and unknown. We do not know the way it would behave when heated or frozen,” adds Orlando Soto, head of Le Bernardin patisserie.
Currently, about 30 corporations cope with mycelium, and most use different strains of mushrooms, Lawson said.
One of essentially the most famous is California-based The Higher Meat Company, founded by founder Paul Shapiro in 2018, who told Side Dish that there could be a “product explosion” in the subsequent five years.
Her mycelium steaks sold out at Bennett’s in Sacramento, and mycelium foie gras became a success at Californian restaurants and LinkedIn’s corporate headquarters in Sunnyvale, CA.
“The world of mushroom proteins has hardly been scratched,” said Shapiro. “While the world relied on growing many species of plants, we have not explored the fungal protein world so deeply, partially because there is a high barrier to entry – biotech knowledge.”
Top design houses including Hermes and Chanel have also begun experimenting with mycelium to create vegan leathers, Side Dish sources say.
Other food technology corporations are also using alternative proteins to create fish-free fish. Nonetheless, this is where Ripert – the vegetarian prince amongst seafood chefs – draws the road. A minimum of for now.
We hear… There’s still time to squeeze in some of town’s best festive days from town’s most creative chefs and restaurateurs. Pop-ups are plentiful and festive decorations are in all places, including the Moxy Hotel’s Magic Rooftop lounge with its Instagram ski carousel, and Macabee’s Hanukkah bar within the West Village.
American Cut steak lovers may honor the Italian-American tradition of the Seven Fish Feast with a seafood tower including chilli lobster, poached lobster, tuna tartare, oysters, shrimp and more, while Christmas themes are cleverly presented at Bell Book & Candle, with lots of festive pillows, blankets, lights and festive cocktails, and at Naughty or Nice, which has taken over The Skinny Bar and Lounge.
Finally, there’s Le Bernardin’s sister venue, the Aldo Sohm Wine Bar, named after its legendary sommelier who created the outdoor fondue service to bring a little bit Alpine flavor to Midtown.