This Memorial Day weekend, the Mushroom Council will collaborate with Wicked Kitchen’s co-founders, chefs and brothers Derek and Chad Sarno for a series of mushroom-centric experiential tasting events at Austin, Texas’s “Hot Luck” festival to show, tell and sample mushrooms’ great flavor on the grill, spotlighting how mushrooms’ meaty texture and inherent umami fits comfortably alongside more meaty participating chefs’ samples.
Held throughout downtown Austin, Hot Luck is an annual food and music festival bringing together the nation’s premier culinary innovators firing up their grills to serve finger-licking creations to more than 12,000 barbecue fans, mixing the weekend’s activities with an array of music from artists of myriad genres. James Beard award-winning chef Aaron Franklin – owner of Austin’s world-famous Franklin Barbecue – is among the event’s co-founders.
Introducing the “Shroom House” With Derek Sarno
On Saturday, the Mushroom Council will host a pop-up at the festival’s “Al Fuego” main event with Sarno, a leading voice in the plant-based food movement, co-founder of Wicked Kitchen product line and author of the “Mushroom Manifesto.” Last year, as the event’s only vegan chef, Sarno grilled 400 pounds of oyster and lion’s mane mushrooms for guests to widespread acclaim.
This year, the Mushroom Council and Sarno will present the “Shroom House,” a mushroom themed sampling station that looks and feels like a classic Texas steakhouse, but with a focus on mushrooms. Located at Austin’s Wild Onion Ranch open-air event venue, the Shroom House will feature Sarno and team serving:
- Grilled ‘Steak’: marinated lions mane ‘skirt steak’ with garlic butter and herbs
- Black Pearl Poke: oyster mushrooms, white soy, wasabi, lime, greens
- Portobello Shawarma: with tzatziki, tomato, citrus and herbs served as a taco
“I’m honored to be working with the Mushroom Council and be at the world-famous Hot Luck Fest, cooking with some of the most talented chefs in the grilling and barbecue world,” said Sarno. “Mushrooms are the new hero in town and, when done right, are worthy of taking center stage. Gone are the days of just being a side dish. I can’t wait to showcase our innovative mushroom techniques and dishes … this is gonna be a blast!”
Blended Burgers on Friday: In addition to veggie-only, the Mushroom Council also is demonstrating mushrooms’ blendability with meat over the grill with a Friday night event featuring Chefs Krystal Craig and Ian Thurwachter.
At the “Big Top” carnival-themed gathering at Austin’s Fair Market event venue, Craig and Thurwachter will serve a savory smoked mushroom and Wagyu beef blended burger sliders. Both chefs are of Intero, a famed farm-to-table Italian restaurant in Austin. This duo together brings 35 years’ experience in the food and restaurant industry, combining their knowledge and love for sweet and savory Italian cuisine.
For more information about Hot Luck or to purchase tickets, visit hotluckfest.com for more details.
About the Mushroom Council:
The Mushroom Council is composed of fresh market producers and importers who average more than 500,000 pounds of mushrooms produced or imported annually. The mushroom program is authorized by the Mushroom Promotion, Research and Consumer Information Act of 1990 and is administered by the Mushroom Council under the supervision of the Agricultural Marketing Service. Research and promotion programs help to expand, maintain and develop markets for individual agricultural commodities in the United States and abroad. These industry self-help programs are requested and funded by the industry groups that they serve. For more information, visit mushroomcouncil.com
