The Ingredient: Mushrooms

ASTERID MESSHALL

MUSHROOM MAGIC

While there are over 10,000 varieties of mushrooms, you may be familiar with only a few types of this superfood. Get to know some of the others.

BY CAROLE DIXON

From black trumpet to truf es, the nutritional value of mushrooms is solid—from vitamin D to ber—and they are often substituted for meat in plant-based entrees. Here are some of the best ways to enjoy them in L.A. this winter.

Start your day with a mushroom staple from Tex-Mex favorite HomeState in Pasadena. Its blanco breakfast taco is a morning vegetarian option, and features Chino Valley organic egg whites, shiitake mushrooms, and Monterey Jack.

Located on Jerry Moss Plaza at The Music Center, Abernethy’s is a modern Filipino restaurant where Executive Chef Geter Atienza was hand-selected as part of a culinary incubator by his mentor, chef Ray Garcia. The restaurant features a vegan version of the traditional pancit bihon, with rice noodles and forest mushrooms roasted with thyme and garlic, sugar snap peas, carrots, sweet peppers, and grilled lemon.

“Mushrooms are such a staple in a vegan diet today because they can take on avors from different cuisines,” Atienza says, “plus they are so versatile when it comes to how you can prepare them from braising, frying, and roasting, and the nutritional value from brain health to lowering cholesterol.” At Garcia’s Asterid you will nd maitake mushrooms prepared with turmeric aioli, lemon, and parsley. “Maitakes were chosen for their nutty avor as well as their cluster formation, which provides texture when fried

HEAD HUNTING and depth to the presentation,” Garcia says. Farmer Joni Albers, owner of Otoño in Highland Park serves a paella Hungry Gardens Urban Farm with sunchoke, black vinaigrette, and two in Sun Valley, grows halfa-dozen varieties of exotic types of mushrooms: oyster and shitake. mushrooms that are snapped up Another must-try rice-based favorite, farro by restaurants such as Spago risotto, is made with wild mushrooms, and Republique. You can find lion’s mane, black pearl, blue roasted corn, truf es, parm tuile, and herbs at oyster, and cinnamon caps at her Los Feliz’s Messhall. Chef Joana Cruz of Sparstand at the Montrose Harvest row Italia at Hotel Figueroa makes a rich and Market on Sundays and Burbank Farmers Market on Saturdays. earthy tartufo pizza with wild mushrooms, smoked mozzarella, and seasonal truf e for a great sharable starter or entrée. Mushroom atbread or miso wild mushrooms from Marcel Vigneron’s Lemon Grove at The Aster pairs well with a whole branzino, while the mushroom served “escargot style” at Brandon Kida’s Gunsmoke in the Vinyl District can be a whole meal with a crusty baguette and glass of wine.