The newest Mush Foods 50CUT collaboration gives foodies a delicious reason to take a trip to Chef JJ Johnson’s FIELDTRIP’s New York locations in Harlem, Morningside Heights and at Rockefeller Center. The James Beard Awarding-winning chef, TV personality, cookbook author, cultural tastemaker and founder of FIELDTRIP, has collaborated with the team behind 50CUT mushroom root blends to create a first-of-its-kind dish – Jerk Meatball Bowl, featuring ground turkey and 50CUT meatballs paired with herbed rice, wok veggies, cucumber and coconut yogurt.
50CUT is a mushroom root blend designed specifically to be mixed with ground meats so that chefs can reduce the amount of meat needed in a recipe by half, while still maintaining the great taste, juiciness and texture. 50CUT brings all the beneficial attributes of mushrooms, like umami and positive nutrition, and reduces the environmental impact of the dish.
“Sustainability has always been important to me, and I’m excited to work with partners that share the same commitment. As a mushroom lover myself, 50CUT has allowed us to introduce a flavorful new way to eat meat, while simultaneously delivering a way to consciously eat better with a reduced environmental impact.” said Chef JJ Johnson, FIELDTRIP owner and New York Times best-selling author of The Simple Art of Rice.
FIELDTRIP, one of the only fast casual restaurants ever highlighted as Esquire’s “America’s Best New Restaurants” (2020), is JJ Johnson’s rapidly growing rice bowl shop, where he champions community, flavor and sustainability, working with local rice farmers and producers to source the freshest ingredients. This shared commitment to local agriculture, community, and culinary excellence made the two natural partners as they teamed up to craft this unique dish bringing bold, barrier-breaking Afro Caribbean cuisine and flavor to the table with the magic of the 50CUT mushroom and mushroom root blend.
“One of the most exciting chefs today, Chef JJ Johnson is a culinary visionary setting new standards for fast-casual,” said Chef AJ Schaller, Culinary Director for Mush Foods, the culinary innovator behind 50CUT. “We are thrilled that he selected 50CUT for the menu at FIELDTRIP where globally inspired rice bowls make culinary innovation approachable, delicious, and accessible. The FIELDTRIP 50CUT Jerk Meatballs are an outstanding example of Chef’s culinary ingenuity, and we can’t wait for you to taste this delicious dish.”
The 50CUT Factor
50CUT is a breakthrough, chef-crafted blend of premium mushrooms and mushroom roots, offering an umami flavor and enhanced texture for ground beef, pork, and poultry dishes. This complete protein source allows chefs to replace half the ground meat in any dish, instantly reducing environmental impact while boosting flavor and nutrition. Made with mushrooms such as oyster, trumpet, shiitake, and lion’s mane grown in upstate New York, 50CUT is rich in dietary fibers, potassium, iron, and calcium, with reduced cholesterol and saturated fats, seamlessly addressing core culinary needs of today’s restaurant, food service and consumers.
Since the beginning of 2024, Mush Foods has quickly attracted partners, who are offering 50CUT products – from foodservice operators, like Pat LaFrieda, the iconic meat purveyors and Dufour, the sausage and specialty meats maker, to restaurants like FIELDTRIP from James Beard award-winning Chef JJ Johnson to local favorites like Farmers & Chefs in the Hudson Valley.
About Chef JJ Johnson and FIELDTRIP
Chef JJ Johnson is most recognized for his innovative approach to Afro Caribbean cuisine. His work has earned him numerous accolades, including the James Beard Foundation Book Award for his cookbook Between Harlem and Heaven and Esquire’s number one “Best New Restaurant” while at The Cecil in Harlem, among others. He is the host of Just Eats with Chef JJ which is currently in its fifth season on Cleo TV (airing Wednesdays at 9pm ET). In the Fall of 2023 he released his second cookbook, The Simple Art of Rice, which was named one of the New York Times “Best Cookbooks of 2023”. Based in New York City, JJ is the chef and restaurateur behind the community-driven rice bowl shop FIELDTRIP, which was named one of Esquire’s “Best New Restaurants” in 2020. FIELDTRIP currently has three New York City locations with expansion plans on the horizon. He also
Learn more about Chef JJ by visiting his website and checking him out on Instagram.
About Mush Foods
Food industry veteran Shalom Daniel, Dr. Idan Pereman (Agriculture) and Dr. Dan Levanon (Biology) started Mush Foods, a culinary innovator and creator of 50CUT, a unique line of premium mushroom root and mushroom blends for use in ground meat dishes (beef, pork and poultry). When added to ground meat, 50CUT provides all the beneficial attributes of mushrooms, like umami flavor and positive nutrition, while significantly reducing the environmental impact of the dish. According to Life Cycle Assessment by Boundless Impact Research & Analytics, a burger made with 50CUT had a 50% lower greenhouse gas footprint than a 100% beef burger.
Based in New York, Mush Foods works with local farmers to grow mushroom roots and mushrooms above ground through a proprietary and sustainable cultivation technique that maximizes access to this nutrient-rich and delicious culinary treasure that typically remains buried underground. Chefs and diners can count on 50CUT’s clean label – no seasonings, no binding agents, no additives, or preservatives.
