Fy: new "magic mushroom" found by NASA

NY Post.com; Nature's Fynd com; NASA Spinoff; Vegan Kitchen, Wisdom Quarterly

NASA helps serve Yellowstone extremophile fungi for breakfast | NASA Spinoff

NASA helps serve Yellowstone micro-extremophile-fungi for breakfast (Nature's Fynd)

This Adam & Eve Apple specimen is not it.

A “magic mushroom” is taking a wide-range of diners — from Manhattan’s famed Le Bernardin to astronauts in outer space — on a wild trip.

Known as Fy, rhymes with sci-fi, the funky fungi are a protein formed from a microbe found by a NASA-funded geo-microbiologist in the acid hot springs of Yellowstone National Park.

• NASA helps serve Yellowstone fungi for breakfast: Fy
• Fy [protein] will feed astronauts! (oliverwyman.com)
• Fy's origin story | Nature's Fynd (naturesfynd.com)
• It's science: Meat alternative made from Yellowstone hot spring fungus backed by capitalist Bill Gates and NASA (IFLScience)
• Microbes found in Yellowstone's hot springs are being turned into protein to make vegan hamburgers (Daily Mail Online)

New protein's origin story, found by NASA in extreme temp | Nature's Fynd (naturesfynd.com)

It tastes like anything or nothing in particular.

Astronauts are now studying these fungi in space as a food source during long missions. Back on Earth, Chef Eric Ripert has been using Fy in several dishes at Le Bernardin, the Michelin-starred seafood sanctuary named the top restaurant in the world by La Liste last month.

“We call it here, as a joke, the ‘magic mushroom.’ It’s basically magic,” Ripert told Side Dish. “It tastes like nothing, [if nothing tasted] like milk with a slight umami taste.”

For the past six months, Ripert has served Fy in his desserts, including a chamomile ice cream, and in a squash blossom delicacy.

He’s also recently included it in a savory Yukon Gold Potato dish with olive and a sauce vierge, in his $220 vegetarian tasting menu and in a cold hazelnut dessert.

More: "Magic mushroom" gets praise from Le Bernardin's Eric Ripert (nypost.com)