On Food and Cooking

Fusarium venenatum. A strain of the fungus
originally taken from a field in Buck-
inghamshire, England, is grown in a liquid
medium in a factory-scale fermenter. The
resulting mass of hyphae is harvested,
washed, and rapidly heated. This produces
microscopic fibers that are rich in protein and
about 0.5 mm long and 0.003–0.005 mm in
diameter, or about the dimensions of muscle
fibers in meat. This essentially tasteless
mycoprotein (from myco-, “related to fungi”)
can then be manufactured into meat
substitutes and a variety of other food
products.