The Real Magic of Mushrooms

We all know they're delicious, but could burgers ever be good for society? According to the James Beard Foundation, the answer is yes.

In the service of, well, the service industry, the foundation has created a series of impact programs designed to train members of the culinary community to become leaders and advocates. One such initiative is the Blended Burger Project, which is a summer-long, nationwide competition that challenges chefs to create a burger that is blended with 25 percent mushrooms. The program has been building momentum for the past four years, and now New Mexico is getting involved in the fun. "As mushrooms top trend lists this year, we are so impressed by the creative blended burgers that are being added to menus across the country," Kris Moon, vice president of the James Beard Foundation, writes in a statement. "Even in its fourth year, chefs are so passionate and enthusiastic about adding a more sustainable, nutritious and delicious burger to their menu."

The James Beard Foundation has partnered with the Mushroom Council, a federal marketing group of mushroom importers and producers who work to expand and develop the national demand for mushrooms, which sounds like one of the best and weirdest things the USDA has ever been involved with. "People don't realize the environmental benefits of growing mushrooms," Kim Bedwell, marketing representative of the Mushroom Council, tells SFR. "It doesn't take much water, and you can really do it anywhere; we focus on sustainable nutrition, and when the USDA re-evaluates where nutrition is going in 2021, I suspect sustainability is going to be a major factor."

Bedwell also points out that blending a burger with mushrooms reduces the overall carbon footprint of the primary ingredients, since livestock sources contribute much more to greenhouse gas emissions than 'shrooms. Blending also adds a host of different vitamins and fiber, not to mention reducing overall calories and cholesterol. The umami flavors of mushrooms make them an easy ingredient to blend into meat without having much of an effect on taste. (Ostensibly. I can still taste them, but I like both meat and mushrooms, so it's not an unwelcome addition.) Plus, come mushroom-hunting season, it seems like every chef in Santa Fe is camped out in the mountains somewhere. The contest provides a chance to blend a little taste of the Sangre de Cristos into the summer staple that is the average quarter-pounder, as long as we're blessed with some rain before the contest ends.

This might sound like heresy to true burger dogmatists, but the goal isn't to alienate people who like beef by telling them to eat more veggies. It's to challenge people's assumptions about the nutritional value and environmental impact of casual dining. While more and more fine-dining restaurants embrace the ethos of "farm-to-table," which essentially aims to reduce the steps in between growing your food in a field and artfully arranging it on a plate, the vast majority of people who eat food buy produce trucked in from other countries and meat slaughtered across state lines, simply because it's cheaper and easier and there aren't enough local options that are viable alternatives.

Encouraging chefs to examine the soul-crushing machine behind the classism inherent in our food system is both subversive and empowering. "It's a great, accessible way for chefs to become involved without a huge lift. It's a small step towards making a huge difference," says Sarah Drew, a member and marketer for the James Beard Foundation, about creating a burger that is gentler on the environment and focused on fostering local food sources. Even better, it involves a nationwide burger-eating contest, which is never a bad thing.

The Blended Burger Project runs from Tuesday May 29 to Tuesday July 31, and registration is open for restaurants to participate up until the starting point of the contest; after that, voting is online at jamesbeard.org/blendedburgerproject. Customers can vote online for their favorites, and in August, the top 20 entries will be selected and whittled down to five by celebrity tasting panel consisting of the Travel Channel's Bizarre Foods host Andrew Zimmern, culinary director of Good Housekeeping magazine Susan Westmoreland and starchef.com CEO Antoinette Bruno. The criteria is based on the most creative use of ingredients, best presentation and flavor profile.

New Mexico boasts three entries—which is a pretty good showing, considering that only a thousand restaurants nationwide are signed up to participate: Toltec Brewing in Albuquerque and The Ranch House (2571 Christo's Road, 424-8900) and Restaurant Martín (526 Galisteo St., 820-0919) in Santa Fe. I got to sample both the latter participants' blended burgers at a luncheon kicking off the registration for the event, and each was worth voting for. Chef Josh Baum of The Ranch House crafted a turkey and cremini mushroom burger topped with a persimmon and apricot-flavored bacon butter spread, mixed with smoked gouda cheese and crispy onion on a toasted brioche bun. Chef Martin Rios of Restaurant Martín crafted a blend of oyster and cremini mushroom mixed with duck meat, topped with a black bean mole dried almost to a paste, and with peppered bacon, red onions and pickled poblanos. The mole was subtly spicy and sweet, a perfect counterpoint to the richness of the duck. Martin's burger is available on the bar menu at the Santa Fe Brewing Company's nearby downtown tasting room, the Brakeroom (510 Galisteo St., 780-8648).

New Mexico might not have a lot of entries, but with all the powerhouse local ingredients that add color and flavor to burgers (there's still not a green chile burger entered on our behalf yet), I'm excited to see what kind of impact this contest will have on the future burger scene of Santa Fe.