MEATLESS MONDAY: Or Meatless Tuesday. Or Meatless Wednesday through Sunday. The word "meatless" is appearing more and more often in front of a particular day of the week -- usually Monday, because, you know, alliteration is cool -- and the trend is growing. Growing even among serious carnivores who are looking to vary their meals and ingredients with an eye to mixing in more things that grow from the ground and trees. And one of the main stars of the Meatless Monday trend? The mushroom, of course. Call it the gateway ingredient between meat and produce because it is indeed, in part, such a meaty substance, as non-meat substances go. But fungi is a favorite even among those who aren't looking for that door between meat and meatless. And that fact, that mushrooms are perennially popular in all corners, means that the Morgan Hill Mushroom Mardi Gras, a Memorial Day Weekend staple in the San Jose-close burg, is here to stay.
REALLY HERE TO STAY: The Mushroom Mardi Gras turns 34 this year. That's due in large part to the variety of doings during the festival -- a kid's ride area and music are the carnival-type features -- but food is an obvious emphasis, too. "(G)ourmet offerings" and tastes of mushrooms grown in the Morgan Hill area are savory staples of the two-day happening (which goes down on May 25 and 26 this year, the Saturday and Sunday of the Memorial Day Weekend). It's free to get in, too.
Want to know more about NorCal shroominess and how all of that delicious fungi is grown? Here are three growers to get to know: Monterey Mushrooms, Del Fresh Produce, and Concord Farms.
