Exotic/Disgusting Foods and Beverages Forum--A Jerky Made Out of Mushrooms

      Okay, admittedly this one isn't that exotic, but it is kind of weird, at least.  I've reported on various kinds of jerkies before, such as on January 4th, 2025, and one on vegetarian jerkies on September 25, 2021.  But today I thought I'd cover one made from mushrooms.  Specifically, the original mushroom jerky from Pan's.

     For a change, I was easily able to learn some about the history of the Pan's brand, and the company behind it, which is Panco Foods, Inc., out of Portland, Oregon.  In 2006 Michael Pan visited some relatives in Malaysia.  The folks were vegetarian Buddhists, so clearly they didn't eat meat.  But they did make a dried snack out of mushrooms.  Michael was dazzled by this, and remembered the great taste when he returned back home to Oregon.  He was an engineer by training, and he continued this career for quite some time.  However, in 2018 he launched Pan's mushroom jerky, inspired by his relatives' creation.  Initially there were four flavors, but this has expanded since.  In late 2020, Pan was a guest on the ABC television program "Shark Tank."  Once the judges and potential investors tasted his mushroom jerky, they were interested enough to get involved.  Mark Cuban made a deal with Pan, and others invested as well.  That financial boon, and the national exposure helped Pan's business spread, and thrive.  As of now, beside the one I tried, Pan's also makes mushroom jerky flavors of teriyaki, curry, salt & pepper, applewood barbecue, zesty Thai, and a limited edition kind that uses sichuan mala mushrooms instead of the usual shiitake mushrooms as the base.  The Pan mushroom jerkies are also obviously vegan-appropriate, and free of gluten, soy, and GMOs.  Additionally, they're "Earth Kosher," which I just learned is an organization founded in 2004 that assists companies in earning kosher certification in an affordable and accepted manner.  (I don't know if some super hardcore Jews refuse to accept this Earth Kosher designation, so that's up to the consumer to decide, I guess.)  There is a warning on the Pan label about California's Prop 65 act, based on the safety legislation from 1986.  Pan claims that the mushrooms they use may absorb minute amounts of cadmium, lead, and mercury from the soil they're grown in, but that these levels are not high enough to be dangerous for people.  Again, I suppose potential customers can research this and decide for themselves if they want to eat Pan's products.

Pan's mushroom jerky, original flavor:  Had a brownish-black color.  Earthy odor.  It was stems and caps chopped up, so the shapes and sizes were variable.  The texture was quite chewy, even though the pieces were dry.  Pretty good.  I like mushrooms in general, so this wasn't a big surprise.  This was a new, and different way to enjoy them.  Kind of odd, but more than decent.  I would definitely recommend them, unless you really hate mushrooms.

     Pan's website mentions that their mushroom jerky is "satisfyingly umami."  Which, once more, I had to look up.  Well, umami is a word coined by Japanese scientist Kikunae Ikeda.  In 1908 he identified a fifth basic taste, to go along with sweet, sour, salty, and bitter.  Umami is savoriness, as is produced by glutamate and some nucleotides like inosine monophosphate and guanosine monophosphate.  These substances help form the overall tastes in foods like beef, cheese, seafood, and soy sauce.

 

Exotic/Disgusting Foods and Beverages Forum--Two French Mini Toasts

      One of the additions to my local grocery store in the past year or two is a new, expanded specialty cheese section.  To go along with this, they also started selling more crackers, spreads, etc.  A few months ago I saw that they'd begun selling mini toasts.  From the names of the products, Joan of Arc and Egalite, along with the French flag colors on the latter's label, I assumed that they were probably French in origin.  A closer read of the labels confirmed this.

     I wasn't able to find out much of anything about the makers of the Joan of Arc toasts.  The label read "Since 1918," but that about it for the history of the company.  After a while of online sleuthing, I was unable to discern the name of the company that made them, even (assuming it wasn't also "Joan of Arc").  All I got was that they are distributed by the mammoth cheese company Saptuo, of whom I've covered many time before on this blog.  (See my post on June 27th, 2020 for more info on Saputo's history.)  The Egalite story (or lack thereof), was similar--no details at all about the actual manufacturer, and a bit about the distributing company, Gourmet Foods International.  For that, Russell McCall started working as a Greenwich, Connecticut cheese shop at the age of 16.  Eight years later, in 1967, he knew enough about the cheese game that he opened his own cheese shop.  Then he borrowed money from his grandmother to open up another store in Atlanta, Georgia.  However, due to the industry switch to wholesale businesses becoming hugely successful, McCall sold his retail stores in 1971.  From then on out his company focused on importing and distributing European cheeses and gourmet specialty items.  There are now 10 Gourmet Foods International distribution centers around the U.S.  The firm sells cheeses, lunchmeats, crisps, crackers, and pates.  And like I mentioned, I wasn't able to discover anything about the French baker of the toasts--not even the start date, like for the Joan of Arc ones.  But I can tell you that "egalite" is French for "equality."

Egalite mini toasts:  The toasts were about 3.5 cm square, or about 1.5 inches.  They were a whitish yellow color, with a light brown crust.  There was no real odor.  They looked like tiny squares of toasted bread.  Their texture was dry and crunchy.  No strong flavor to them.  With some fruit spreads on them they tasted better, but still not great.  With cheese on them they were much improved, but isn't everything?  In conclusion, there are many better canape bases than these.  Unless you really like Melba-like toasts such as these, I wouldn't recommend them.  Use a cracker or something to put your cheese or jam on instead.

Joan of Arc mini toasts:  These were about the same size, shape, and color as the Egalite ones.  Maybe a tad more darker yellow.  The texture was also the same--dry and crunchy.  And very bland when eaten plain once again.  With fruit spread on them, and then cheese, the taste was improved, but like the previous one, the overall effect wasn't great.  They were probably a little bit better than the Egalites, but still not enough for me to recommend them, unless you're mad for Melba like toasts.  To me, toasting bread, especially twice, almost always is worse than just having the bread fresh, and nice and soft.

     Since this post has been so light, I thought I'd go on a tangent about the food type itself.  The mini toasts I ate strongly appear to be a form of Melba toast.  Which, refreshingly, I was able to learn a few facts about.  Back in 1897 the famous opera singer, Dame Nellie Melba, was ill while in France.  A sympathetic hotel chef, Auguste Escoffier, came up with a dish that she could eat in her delicate state.  It was a variant of rusk, or dry and crunchy twice baked bread.  Auguste took some sliced bread and grilled it on both sides.  Then he sliced it laterally and did it again, resulting in tiny, thin, hard and crunchy bread pieces.  Hotel owner Cesar Ritz suggested that Escoffier continue making this concoction, and they decided to name it after Ms. Melba.  Enough people enjoyed it that it spread to other countries, and continents.  It's apparently called "French toast" in the U.K., while we Americans save this moniker for the soft, syrupy, breakfast treat.  Escoffier seemed to have a lot of respect for, or perhaps an obsession with Ms. Melba, since he named three other invented dishes after her.  These were Peach Melba (a peach, raspberry sauce, and vanilla ice cream combo), Melba Garniture (chicken, truffles, and mushrooms stuffed into a tomato, with a savory sauce), and Melba sauce (a raspberry and red currant puree).  The chef also named dishes after actress Sarah Bernhardt, actress Gabrielle Rejane, and composer Gioachino Rossini.  Nellie Melba had a long and distinguished career, living from 1861-1931.  And Nellie Melba was a stage name, as she was born Helen Porter Mitchell, in Australia.  The "Melba" from her stage surname was a tribute to her home city of Melbourne.  Finally, I couldn't determine this exactly, but I think Nellie Melba might hold the record for most food dishes named after a person, excluding royals like kings and queens.

  

Horrorsmith: The Magazine Issue #3 is Out!

     I've been talking about pending magazines or anthologies that are scheduled to publish one of my stories for months now.  Well, the day is finally here for one of them.  My story, "Blissful Knowledge," is part of the most recent issue of Horrorsmith: The Magazine.  "Blissful Knowledge" is a throwback zombie tale, back in the pre-George Romero days when zombies were forced labor in the Caribbean.  But, with enough twists to keep things interesting, I think.  I actually wrote this story back in 2001, so it's nice to see it finally get a home in print.

     The cover above lets you know several of the authors featured in this issue, along with their story titles, as well as some other writing-related articles.  But, I'll let you know some of the other tidbits in the magazine.  There's a story titled "The Vulture King," by James Oakley.  There are also two publisher spotlights, one for Slashic Horror Press, and the other for Crystal Lake Publishing.  Additionally, there are two reviews of recent horror/thriller books--Dathan Auerbach's "Bad Man," and William Rose's "Itsy Bitsy Spider."  Then there are a Recent Releases section, and an article about the Best Indie Book Covers.  All of this was spearheaded by Horrorsmith's Editor in Chief Lyndsey Smith.  So, do yourself a favor and head on over to Horrorsmith's website ( https://www.horrorsmithpublishing.com ), and pick yourself up a copy.  There's no risk, since the magazine is free.  And while you're on this website check out Horrorsmith's many available books, in a range of categories.  Their imprints include Fear Forge (horror), Thrill Forge (thriller), Teen Forge (young adult), and Spiced Forge (romance).  Or, something for practically everyone.

     

     Switching topics a bit, speaking of published stories, my other accepted story for this year, with RDG Books, now has a scheduled release date of October 10th, 2025.  And I believe some of my co-contributors for this anthology may be doing an interview or two on my blog.  So get ready to read about this upcoming anthology quite a bit in the coming weeks.