By Mike Kostyo
Diego Tosoni
Carnitas tacos are one of the most flavor-packed dishes in the Mexican culinary repertoire, so when Love Life Café Chef and Co-Founder Diego Tosoni set out to create an on-brand vegan version of the iconic dish—without any meat or oil and only minimal sodium—he recognized that “an exciting challenge” lay ahead. Tosoni opted to center the dish on that umami-packed powerhouse ingredient: mushrooms.
He chose locally grown oyster mushrooms for their flavor and ability to simulate the texture of roasted pork. He cooks the mushrooms with a blend of four chiles to ensure there is no sacrifice of flavor, spice or heat. This is contrasted with a crunchy, acidic housemade curtido, the cabbage slaw typically found in Salvadoran cuisine. All of the components are layered into a soft tortilla, and the dish is finished with a creamy cilantro “crema.” “What makes the Mushroom Carnitas Tacos so popular is the fact that they are extremely flavorful and very healthy,” says Tosoni. Each taco clocks in at a mere 115 calories.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mike Kostyo is the VP of Menu Matters, a private consultancy that works with foodservice professionals to analyze, understand and leverage food and beverage, industry and consumer trends. Kostyo has been a recurring guest on Fusion TV’s “The A.V. Club” show; has been featured on NBC News, CBS Radio and Gimlet Media’s “Why We Eat What We Eat” podcast; is regularly featured in newspapers and magazines; speaks at numerous conferences across the country; and was a judge on Food Network’s “Eating America.” For over a decade, he was the resident Trendologist and an Associate Director at Datassential, one of the food industry's leading insights companies. Kostyo has a master’s in Gastronomy from Boston University, plus certificates in the culinary arts, baking arts, wine and artisan cheese production. He is a regular contributor to Flavor & The Menu and can be reached at [email protected].
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