.The humorous phrase "shiitake happens" pops up on T-shirts, mugs and aprons on Web sites and in kitchen boutiques, but this is where it really does. And it's fair to say the industry's mushrooming.
.
Shiitake mushrooms still carry the exotic label, but these are deemed "local" for chefs from Memphis to Jackson to New Orleans.
.
They could hardly be fresher, harvested just hours before, their gray brown caps curling over creamy white gills at Mississippi Natural Products.
.
September is National Mushroom Month. But Martinville mushroom grower Danny Hayman counters October would be a better pick, since that's when production picks up. "September isn't real good," he says with a chuckle.
.
At peak production, November through March, Mississippi Natural Products handles 1,400 to 1,500 pounds of shiitake mushrooms a week. Mississippi Natural Products, formed seven years ago through Alcorn State, is now a 19-member co-op of shiitake mushroom farmers with a central facility for processing and distribution. With five years under its belt here, its piece-by-piece renovation has turned a former Buddy Jean's plant into shiitake central.
..
"When we started out, we were doing 50 blocks a day. Now, we do 400 blocks a day," says Wanda Millis, president and CEO of Mississippi Natural Products.
.
Those "blocks" are this business' building blocks - the five-pound bags of sawdust, nutrients and spawn that can produce seven to eight crops of shiitake mushrooms apiece.
.
This is where the blocks are formed, inoculated and incubated for 10 weeks. They're then picked up by the growers, who grow the mushrooms within 10 days and sell them back to the co-op for distribution. The central facility also has a small growing room for quality control.
.
Each stage of the process goes on here - from the piles of sawdust out back to the sorting room and refrigerated storage close to the front.
.
"We buy the sawdust from mills and mix it with nutrients - that's kind of your secret formula," says Millis, as workers bag the mixture. Water's a vital ingredient, too, with moisture content tested for each two-cubic-yard batch that goes into the custom-built mixer.
.
"Mushrooms are about 80 percent water anyway, so you need to make sure you have enough." Alcorn State researched the best formula for Mississippi's humidity.
.
"Before this, we were growing herbs on a small scale. This was so successful, we let the herbs grow and just do the mushrooms now."
.
The five-pound bags are then wheeled into a retort, a giant pressure cooker that, over four to five hours at 250 degrees, will sterilize the medium.
.
Shiitake mycelium, also known as spawn, is added to cooled bags in the lab, then they're sealed and lined up on trays for a 10-week incubation. A small filter lets loose the carbon dioxide as the mycelium feeds; the block turns from brown to white and back to a darker, speckled brown with a crust. At this point, it resembles a bagged brick of heavenly hash cookie dough. "
.
You'd be amazed the people who think it's a cake," Millis says.
.
At that stage, the grower gets them, rips off the bag, hoses off the waste product called "mushroom pee" and the shiitakes get to growing.
.
The mushrooms are grown indoors, in environmentally controlled rooms, with optimum light, temperature and moisture - a cycle of fluctuation and constancy.
.
"We fool Mother Nature," sums up sales manager Sharon Newsom.
.
Harvested mushrooms are grown and brought back twice a week. They're sorted by size and to a certain extent, looks, with less attractive 'shrooms destined for the dehydrator. Chefs like the premium larger ones, which can be grilled for a meat substitute.
.
Small ones, marketed as "baby takiis," have found favor, too. Dried mushrooms are another market. "Fresh to Fry," prepackaged baby takiis and an Oriental batter seasoning packet, is due out in October.
.
The hearty mushroom is a healthful food, with benefits ranging from antiviral and anti-cancer to antioxidants and lowering cholesterol. They're low in calories and can be a meat substitute for vegetarians.
.
Taste and texture are their winning points.
.
"It's a nutty, woodsy type flavor," says Newsom, who probably eats them at home at least once a week, and whose husband is an even bigger fan. "He loves them sauteed and any other way." Because of the shiitake's intense and earthy flavor, she advises people to use half the amount of shiitakes when substituting for button mushrooms in recipes.
.
In the metro area, find Mississippi Natural Products at McDade's and Brookshire's. Restaurants using its shiitake mushrooms include Char, Bravo, Sal & Mookie's, Parker House, Walker's Drive-In, Fairview Inn, Atlantica, Bon Ami and the Auditorium Restaurant.
.
"It's a great product - I love it," says Nate Ballard, executive chef at The Auditorium Restaurant, who's been using the shiitakes about three years. There, shiitake mushrooms add texture and earthiness to the restaurant's signature shrimp and grits.
.
Local sourcing is important, Ballard says. "When it comes to food, it's better when it comes from the people around you, because it's going to be fresher. And everything tastes better when you know that the people that are making it are good people and are from the same place that you are." -Clarionledger
.
Shiitake mushrooms still carry the exotic label, but these are deemed "local" for chefs from Memphis to Jackson to New Orleans.
.
They could hardly be fresher, harvested just hours before, their gray brown caps curling over creamy white gills at Mississippi Natural Products.
.
September is National Mushroom Month. But Martinville mushroom grower Danny Hayman counters October would be a better pick, since that's when production picks up. "September isn't real good," he says with a chuckle.
.
At peak production, November through March, Mississippi Natural Products handles 1,400 to 1,500 pounds of shiitake mushrooms a week. Mississippi Natural Products, formed seven years ago through Alcorn State, is now a 19-member co-op of shiitake mushroom farmers with a central facility for processing and distribution. With five years under its belt here, its piece-by-piece renovation has turned a former Buddy Jean's plant into shiitake central.
..
"When we started out, we were doing 50 blocks a day. Now, we do 400 blocks a day," says Wanda Millis, president and CEO of Mississippi Natural Products.
.
Those "blocks" are this business' building blocks - the five-pound bags of sawdust, nutrients and spawn that can produce seven to eight crops of shiitake mushrooms apiece.
.
This is where the blocks are formed, inoculated and incubated for 10 weeks. They're then picked up by the growers, who grow the mushrooms within 10 days and sell them back to the co-op for distribution. The central facility also has a small growing room for quality control.
.
Each stage of the process goes on here - from the piles of sawdust out back to the sorting room and refrigerated storage close to the front.
.
"We buy the sawdust from mills and mix it with nutrients - that's kind of your secret formula," says Millis, as workers bag the mixture. Water's a vital ingredient, too, with moisture content tested for each two-cubic-yard batch that goes into the custom-built mixer.
.
"Mushrooms are about 80 percent water anyway, so you need to make sure you have enough." Alcorn State researched the best formula for Mississippi's humidity.
.
"Before this, we were growing herbs on a small scale. This was so successful, we let the herbs grow and just do the mushrooms now."
.
The five-pound bags are then wheeled into a retort, a giant pressure cooker that, over four to five hours at 250 degrees, will sterilize the medium.
.
Shiitake mycelium, also known as spawn, is added to cooled bags in the lab, then they're sealed and lined up on trays for a 10-week incubation. A small filter lets loose the carbon dioxide as the mycelium feeds; the block turns from brown to white and back to a darker, speckled brown with a crust. At this point, it resembles a bagged brick of heavenly hash cookie dough. "
.
You'd be amazed the people who think it's a cake," Millis says.
.
At that stage, the grower gets them, rips off the bag, hoses off the waste product called "mushroom pee" and the shiitakes get to growing.
.
The mushrooms are grown indoors, in environmentally controlled rooms, with optimum light, temperature and moisture - a cycle of fluctuation and constancy.
.
"We fool Mother Nature," sums up sales manager Sharon Newsom.
.
Harvested mushrooms are grown and brought back twice a week. They're sorted by size and to a certain extent, looks, with less attractive 'shrooms destined for the dehydrator. Chefs like the premium larger ones, which can be grilled for a meat substitute.
.
Small ones, marketed as "baby takiis," have found favor, too. Dried mushrooms are another market. "Fresh to Fry," prepackaged baby takiis and an Oriental batter seasoning packet, is due out in October.
.
The hearty mushroom is a healthful food, with benefits ranging from antiviral and anti-cancer to antioxidants and lowering cholesterol. They're low in calories and can be a meat substitute for vegetarians.
.
Taste and texture are their winning points.
.
"It's a nutty, woodsy type flavor," says Newsom, who probably eats them at home at least once a week, and whose husband is an even bigger fan. "He loves them sauteed and any other way." Because of the shiitake's intense and earthy flavor, she advises people to use half the amount of shiitakes when substituting for button mushrooms in recipes.
.
In the metro area, find Mississippi Natural Products at McDade's and Brookshire's. Restaurants using its shiitake mushrooms include Char, Bravo, Sal & Mookie's, Parker House, Walker's Drive-In, Fairview Inn, Atlantica, Bon Ami and the Auditorium Restaurant.
.
"It's a great product - I love it," says Nate Ballard, executive chef at The Auditorium Restaurant, who's been using the shiitakes about three years. There, shiitake mushrooms add texture and earthiness to the restaurant's signature shrimp and grits.
.
Local sourcing is important, Ballard says. "When it comes to food, it's better when it comes from the people around you, because it's going to be fresher. And everything tastes better when you know that the people that are making it are good people and are from the same place that you are." -Clarionledger
