What does the name “cordyceps” mean to you? If you’ve watched “The Last of Us” (The Last of Us), you’re probably already stressed: it’s the beautiful and terrifying fungus that turns most of the world’s population into particularly murderous zombies. It is even more stressful to discover that the idea behind the series and the game on which it is based is not completely detached from reality: a certain type of Cordyceps mushroom is indeed endowed with parasitic abilities that allow it to take over insects in a hostile manner, and those who search will find videos on the net that look like a nightmare (which were the inspiration for the story of “The Last of Us” “). At the same time, other strains of the same mushroom were endowed with medicinal properties.
They contain substances that strengthen the immune system, balance diabetes, help protect the heart and even stimulate the libido. But wait, what does all this have to do with food? Today (Wednesday) you can – especially if you haven’t watched the series and therefore don’t have these scary associations – taste cordyceps and other mushrooms at Omxa, the hospitality space adjacent to the Kichokai restaurant in the flea market. Don’t worry, it’s completely safe and you won’t turn into zombies. It seems to us.
Or Ginsberg, Materani (right) and Israeli Porcini (photo by Or Doga)
“Everyone deals with OCD, precisely and perfectly. I’m a spoiled child, and there are more spoiled than perfect in the world. I always do things in a different way because of my childhood part and the attention disorder, which I took as inspiration for the restaurant,” confesses chef Orr Ginsberg. As part of the defiance he serves in kichokai he serves dishes that are upside down, for example a spicy first course with strawberries. A search for new raw materials (“How can I be special if I buy from the same suppliers?”, he wonders) led him to enroll in a picking course, which opened a door for him to the world of mushrooms from nature and controlled cultivation.
This is also how Ginsberg was exposed to Mycospring products, an Israeli company that grows medicinal mushrooms, among them cordyceps. “I started consuming the mushrooms,” he says, while not being a zombie at all. “I snack on them on the way to work instead of coffee and arrive full of energy, or drip a few drops of oil on my tongue during the day to give a boost.” With the experience comes the appetite (no, not for human flesh, we swear, enough already). Ginsberg began experimenting with mushrooms and discovered what vegans have known for a long time, that when roasted or seared they take on a deep flavor of seafood or meat. He now translates this insight into three meals in which at least seven courses will be served, “although right now I have 13. I’m trying to get busy,” he laughs.
Not what you saw on TV (photo by Or Doga)
The menu already includes parida nigiri with reduced cordyceps and brown butter (“a delicate bite of mushrooms with a deep flavor”), Matrane in Peruvian anticocho marinade (“the mushroom replaces the veal’s heart that appears in the original dish and gets amazing tangy flavors”), ruby forest pan – fresh mushrooms Steamed in leek and root stock and dashi hollandaise, black risotto with cordyceps fruit bodies and homemade cordyceps liqueur. Next to the mushrooms will be served nettle leaf tacos and tuna cubes, the confluence of the streams salad – watercress, wild beets and other picking herbs in vinaigrette leaves and mustard flowers and other picking dishes. During the meal, Ginsberg will tell about his romance with nature in general and mushrooms in particular. “The personal connection and the story are what’s important for the food to become a performance. It’s an experience that stays long after the meal is over.” Also a zombie apocalypse, but they won’t tell you that in the media.
Amiad 10, Wednesday (1.3, 15.3, 29.3), 450 NIS, orders on the website