An editor friend invited me to sample meatballs at Fieldtrip, a fast-casual restaurant in Rock Center serving rice bowls with veggies and ethically sourced proteins. Those jerk meatballs were my introduction to Mush Foods 50CUT, a line of mushroom and mushroom root blends. They contain no artificial preservatives or additives.

Afterward, their publicist offered samples to work with at home. I started cooking with Mush Food 50CUT  products made from various mushrooms. These blended solutions reduce—rather than eliminate—meat. If you replace half the ground meat in dishes, you instantly reduce environmental impact.

These products are made with mushrooms such as oyster, trumpet, shiitake, and lion’s mane grown in upstate New York. They are rich in dietary fiber, potassium, iron, and calcium. By using it to replace half the meat, you’ll also reduce cholesterol and saturated fats.

Their press materials state that Mush Foods’ 2024 life cycle assessment (LCA) affirms that 50CUT produces almost no greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). Specifics include a GHG of <0.02 kg CO2e per 113 g patty.  According to the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), “an LCA is a systematic analysis of environmental impact over the entire life cycle of a product.”

I was mainly interested in the flavor of the items, so I got cooking. I learned to add more liquid than I generally would, as the mushrooms add lots of fiber that soaks up liquid, thickening any dish I was testing.

I also found that the taste of the items I tried required lots more seasoning and extra liquid and worked best when I added other flavorful ingredients like caramelized onions and pepper.

The best result was turning their 50CUT with ground meat into chili with lots of cumin, dried chili peppers, beans, diced tomatoes and bell peppers, which I served over rice.

I didn’t enjoy the texture of the patties grilled and served on a bun. I did like their pre-made meatballs simmered in a Calabrian (spicy) tomato sauce.

I suggest enjoying their breakfast sausages as is and cooking the other varieties—chicken, Italian and bratwurst—in dishes as you would traditional ones. You’ll not only help the environment but also consume less total and saturated fats.

If you want to purchase and cook with 50CUT meatballs or sausages, you can do so at Doufour Gourmet for about $14.50 per pound.

To sample at a restaurant, visit Fieldtrip or one of Marc Forgione’s three restaurants — Restaurant Marc Forgione in Tribeca; Peasant in NoLita and Trattoria One Fifth, in  Greenwich Village. Each serves 50CUT, as mentioned on their menus.

 

— Bonnie Tandy Leblang