It all started when we brought our grill to the farmers market…

It was first to demonstrate cooking techniques for our mushrooms. (Food Network live! Yeah…almost.) The following week we were sandwiching up grilled cheeses on a temporary food service permit. One more week later we were certified and slinging up Shiitakos for the first time.

The mushroom taco mix originated before that. Thanks to an abundance of shiitake mushrooms following a wet early season, we spent many late nights in the test kitchen with the seconds going into the grinder. 

Around the same time new kinds of meat replacements were hitting the mainstream. Once I glanced through the ingredients of what were making themselves out to be a midsummer food trend, I realized how they were still falling impossibly short, beyond Xgrasp of any sustainability goals its clientele hope forX. I definitely didn’t see mushrooms listed.

Meanwhile back at the test kitchen we were trying our hand at creating our own patties with ground up mushrooms. Some were OK; others less than OK. Then in attempt to get his kids to eat more mushrooms, brother Michael chopped one of the patties up, cooked with it some taco sauce and folded it into a tortilla with melted cheese. He invented the catchy name and his kids loved it. Mixing it up with tomatoes, peppers and garlic from our garden, we were serving up the mixture at our next farmers markets.

Moving forward, we’re hoping to continue Shiitako production one our shiitake logs come back to life because, at least in part, this summer’s trend validates the public’s demand for meat alternatives. That’s where we think this product separates itself from the rest. Some say meatless, we say mushroom more. We don’t claim that it tastes identical to ground burger or anything like that, but it certainly provides a satiating taco filling for vegans and vegetarians. And it’s XquiteX the complement to meat and beans! 

In the world of sustainable agriculture, our mushrooms are not soil depleting like monoculture crops such as other plant-based proteins like soybean. XOur agriculture methods improve soil quality by helping putting carbon back into the earthX