Seaweed Collecting

Even though Seaweed is not eaten much in Ireland, seaweed collecting, by people living near the coast, goes back centuries. It has been used as a fertiliser for the land (like we see in The Field) and in the compost heap, burned as kelp and now it is experiencing a revival in the cosmetic industry, including use in creams and seaweed baths of course. All that said, I'd like to focus primarily on its edibility. While there may be very few potentially harmful species of macroalgae (seaweed) growing on British and Irish coasts, many are not so edible due to their structure or taste. The best known edibles include: Carrageen Moss (both species), Dulse/Dillisk, Sea Lettuce (Ulvas) and the kelps including sea spaghetti. Indeed sea spagetti is something interesting to try, and I've yet to find some culinary recipes that make good use of the Kelps.

Seaweed Foraging Trip

For gathering seaweed to eat, it is important to collect from a clean site, especially since toxins and all sorts of nasties easily diffuse in the water - and are absorbed by whatever is in it (including seaweed).

Me looking at seaweeds

With Wild Food Mary [see her blog here], we went seaweed collecting and identifying last Sunday out the coast beyond Spiddal.

Fucoids and Ulva

In the above photo, we can identify 3 seaweeds: Fucus vesiculosus, F. serratus and edible Ulva - sea lettuce.

Navelwort on wall

Afterwards, we found a nice surprise on the wall - Navelwort/Wall Pennywort - a yummy edible at this time of year, but has too strong a taste by the end of the summer, as I recalled from last September. PFAF say that this "can be eaten in quantity".







In the following days, besides freezing some seaweed, I used some Ulva to make seaweed scones...

Ulva Scones

Also I experimented with making Carrageen Jelly using the second recipe on this Flora Celtica Page. It actually turned out excellent, even if a bit too cinnamony. I didn't follow the recipe exactly, I admit, using blackberries from the freezer instead of lemon. Anyway, here is a pic of the results:

Blackberry Cinnamon Carrageen Jelly made in Silicon Bun mold

And no, it doesn't taste like seaweed : )))

At this time of the year it much too early for sea spaghetti and some other seaweeds are small or old (last year's growth), however it was a worth while trip. In February or March, we may be going again, maybe as a group - so let us know if you are interested.

And now I am off to try out Dulse Scones.