International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science 14 (2018) 55–65

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International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijgfs

World cuisine of seaweeds: Science meets gastronomy T

a,⁎ b c
Ole G. Mouritsen , Prannie Rhatigan , José Lucas Pérez-Lloréns
a
Department of Food Science, Design and Consumer Behavior, University of Copenhagen, Rolighedsvej 26, DK-1958 Frederiksberg C, Denmark
b
Irish Seaweed Kitchen, Streedagh House, Streedagh, Grange, Co. Sligo, Ireland, UK
c
Instituto Universitario de Investigación Marina (INMAR), Campus de Excelencia Internacional/Global del Mar (CEI·MAR), Universidad de Cádiz, Av. República Saharaui
s/n, 11510 Puerto Real, Cádiz, Spain

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Seaweeds are an integral and highly appreciated component of regional cuisines around the world, in particular
Seaweeds in South East Asia and Polynesia where they have been part of the daily fare for millennia. In Europe and the
Phycogastronomy Americas there are many coastal areas which have traditionally consumed seaweeds, and have in recent years
Gastrophysics witnessed an increased interest in reviving seaweed cuisine as well as introducing seaweeds in simple modern
Food culture
dishes as well as in both molecular and modernist cuisines. In the latter case, development was fuelled by fruitful
World cuisine
interactions between chefs and scientists, not least with a focus on seaweeds’ potential for umami taste and their
particular mouthfeel (organoleptic texture). In the present review, we consider this development as a particular
recent trend in the emerging field of phycogastronomy.

Introduction (Fujii, 2005).

Seaweeds are found in suitable marine habitats in all climatic re-
gions around the globe. They are believed to have been used as human
foodstuff by our ancestors who evolved by foraging in coastal areas
(Mouritsen, 2013a, 2013b; Pérez-Lloréns et al., 2018). Since seaweeds
only consist of soft tissues they leave little if any trace of being used for
human consumption, it is difficult to assess the extent of their uses in
prehistoric times (Erlandson et al., 2007; Dillehay et al., 2008). Sea-
weeds may have played a role not only for human nutrition and health
(Cornish et al., 2015) but also been seminal for human brain evolution
(Cornish et al., 2017) since they contain essential elements for brain
development, specifically super-unsaturated omega-3 and omega-6
fatty acids, taurine, magnesium, zinc, vitamin B12, and iodine
(MacArtain et al., 2007; Pereira, 2011; Holdt and Kraan, 2011; Pomin,
2012; Brown et al., 2014). Seaweeds have also played many roles in
shaping human culture and society (O’Connor, 2017).
In Asia, in particular in China, Japan, and Korea, as well as in
Polynesia (e.g., Hawaii), the food cultures have continuously main-
tained a seaweed cuisine tradition from ancient till recent times. In East
Asia and, for example Hawaii, seaweed dishes are considered valuable,
a delicacy, and highly desirable foodstuff. In Japan, the traditional so-
called ‘enlightened cuisine’ (shojin ryori) uses seaweeds both as flavour-
givers and seasoning condiments as well as in a great variety of dishes
In contrast, in Europe and the Americas this tradition has only
survived in relatively few places, e.g., in Brittany, Ireland, Iceland,
Peru, and Chile, and in some areas, e.g., in Ireland, Faroe Islands, and
Brittany, eating seaweeds has evoked memories of times of food
shortage and famine. However, in recent decades seaweeds have been
reinstated as part of a more trendy and innovative gastronomy, in some
cases carried along by health-food and locavore movements, and in-
creasingly also as a consequence of a closer collaboration between
scientists, chefs, and gastronomical entrepreneurs. The emergence of a
new seaweed gastronomy, phycogastronomy, has recently been re-
viewed by Mouritsen, Rhatigan et al. (2018). An example of a modern
seaweed dish is shown in Fig. 1. The dish is created by the Michelin-star
chef, Koji Shimomura, who in collaboration with scientist Hiroya Ka-
wasaki (Kawasaki and Shimomura, 2015) designed novel dishes based
on scientific advice and input regarding nutritional value and taste.
Considering that seaweeds are a bountiful, but only relatively
poorly exploited, marine food resource (FAO, 2016; Buschmann et al.,
2017), it is likely that a stronger focus will be on using seaweeds for
human consumption in the future in order to meet the challenge of
finding new food and sustainable resources with a smaller carbon
footprint. In order to move in this direction, there is a need for an ap-
preciation of traditional world seaweed cuisine and to combine this
with a science-based, gastronomical development focusing on

Peer review under responsibility of AZTI-Tecnalia.

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: ole.mouritsen@food.ku.dk (O.G. Mouritsen).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijgfs.2018.09.002
Received 28 August 2018; Accepted 27 September 2018
Available online 26 October 2018
1878-450X/ © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
O.G. Mouritsen et al. International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science 14 (2018) 55–65

Fig. 2. Drying kombu in Japan (Saccharina japonica). (Courtesy of Norishige

Yotsukura.).

average foreigner, but others are highly palatable and ought to prove
very acceptable to Americans and Europeans”.
Fig. 1. Dried wild nori over poached oysters. (Courtesy of Koji Shimomura.). Edible seaweeds have up to modern times played an especially
significant role in Japan, thanks to its long coastline and the wealth of
seaweeds, in particular those with culinary and gastronomic potential. seaweed species to be found there (Nisizawa, 2002). Kaisō is a generic
Japanese term for all varieties of edible seaweeds. The most common
types of seaweed used in the Japanese kitchen, both nationally as well
Historical, traditional, and modern culinary uses of seaweed as in regional varieties, continues to be kombu (Saccharina japonica, S.
longissima, as well as several other of the Saccharina genus), nori (Por-
Asia phyra/Pyropia spp.), and wakame (Undaria pinnatifida).
Kombu is the key element in Japanese dashi that is an aqueous ex-
Many Asian countries (mostly Japan, China and Korea) are phyco- tract of the dried kombu (cf. Fig. 2). Kombu extract is also used as a tea
phages, that is, they have included seaweeds in their day-to-day menus and it can be simmered in soy sauce to make kombu-tsukudani that is
since ancient times. They were, and still are, a popular foodstuff with used to accompany rice. Herring roe spawned on kelp (komochi kombu)
exceptional taste and nutritional qualities, accounting for up to 20% of is a great delicacy in Japan. Dried, toasted and flavoured kombu is used
the daily food intake of today´s Japanese population (Simoons, 1991). as a snack that is very crisp. Oboro and tororo kombu are specialty
It was in this country where vestiges of seaweeds (or kaisō) mixed with products originating in Osaka. Dried kombu blades are marinated in rice
fish bones and shell fragments were found in human settlements from vinegar, semi-dried, and then cut across (tororo kombu) or scraped
the Jōmon (10,500-300 BCE) and Yayoi (200 BCE-200 CE) Periods (oboro kombu) into paper-thin shavings with a razor-sharp knife (cf.
(Nisizawa et al., 1987). These seafoods were cooked in clay vessels,
making the earliest known version of nabemono, or a hot-pot dish which
is still eaten in Japan today. The earliest written reference of Porphyra/
Pyropia (nori) consumption is in the Tahio Law Codes (701 BCE) that
specified 30 types of marine goods on which a yearly tax had to be paid
to the Emperor. Among them, Porphyra/Pyropia was in the highest class,
thus entering the Japanese food system as an article with great cultural
value (O'Connor, 2013).
During the Heian Period (794–1185) the wild-gathered seaweeds
were a remarkable luxury, hardly ever consumed by ordinary people
and mostly kept for the noble classes. Public markets were opened for
the exclusive sale of seaweeds: nigimedana, where a large variety of
species could be purchased, and mohadana, which only sold cooked
kombu (konbu) (Saccharina japonica). However, nori (Porphyra/Pyropia),
which was specially reserved for the nobility, could not be purchased.
The expansion of Buddhism during the Kamakura Period (1185–1333)
fostered seaweed consumption partly because of the prohibition of
slaughtering animals and the Shinto taboo of eating meat (Matsuyama,
2002). It was not until the Edo Period (1603–1867) that nori became
popular as a key ingredient of maki-zushi, a traditional dish of boiled
rice marinated with rice vinegar, sugar, salt and other ingredients (fish,
vegetables and seafood) and wrapped in a sheet of nori. Refined and
exquisite seaweed cuisine techniques evolved in Japan by the 17th
century. The manufacture of kombu for culinary purposes dates back to
about 1730. According to Smith (1905): “The forms in which kombu is
made ready for consumption number a dozen or more, and illustrate the
ingenuity of the Japanese in providing a varied regimen from a single Fig. 3. Artisan production of oboro kombu (Saccharina japonica). (Photo: Ole G.
article. Some of the preparations are not pleasing to the taste of the Mouritsen.).

56
O.G. Mouritsen et al.
Fig. 3). These ultra-thin products can be wrapped around rice or other
ingredients and can be used as a condiment for a fish dish or simply
eaten on their own as a snack.
Wakame is cultivated widely in Japan from Hokkaido in the north to
Kagoshima in the south. This species has been cultivated in Japan since
the time of the Nara Period (710−794). Large-scale mariculture of
wakame was implemented for the first time in 1957 in the Japanese city
of Massaki, where a memorial monument was erected to honour this
event. After harvesting, the seaweeds are either used raw or dried,
blanched, boiled, and salted. A popular commercial, ready-made pro-
duct is wakame salad (chuka wakame) that consists of cooked, finely
julienned wakame tossed with a little sesame oil and seasoned with
chilies and sesame seeds. It can be very crunchy. It is usually sold frozen
and then defrosted. Wakame is used in many kinds of Japanese soup,
and it adds a sweet, mild taste and requires a minimum of preparation.
The sporophylls (reproductive blades) of wakame called mekabu are
regarded as a delicacy; they are sweet and have full flavour due to their
higher contents of fats. Sporophylls can also be deep-fried or candied
and possibly coated with sesame seeds. Salads with wakame tend to
squash together but can be lifted by adding other seaweeds as in-
gredients that are firmer, crisper, or more stringy, e.g., the red seaweed
funori (Gloiopeltis spp.) or mozuku (Cladosiphon okamuranus, Nemacystus
decipiens), ogonori (Gracilaria spp.), and tosaka-nori (Meristotheca papu-
losa). Served in combination, they make a colourful dish that is pleasing
to both the eye and the palate, known as ‘seaweed salad’. Mozuku is a
brown alga that thrives around the islands of Okinawa in Japan. It is
typically cooked and marinated in salt and vinegar and served cold as
an appetiser, a salad, or with sashimi. Mozuku has a soft, viscous, and
slightly slimy texture, cf. Fig. 4.
Nori is made as a kind of seaweed paper from Porphyra/Pyropia spp.
It is a highly sought-after and rather expensive food product in Japan as
well as in the rest of the world, mostly due to the globalization of the
sushi culture. Nori should not be confused with ao-nori (green nori) or
hitoegusa, which is made from green algae (Monostroma nitidum,
Monostroma latissimum, Ulva spp.) and is used in Japan in the form of
small flakes that are sprinkled on cooked rice. Sheets of nori are
wrapped around cooked rice to make sushi in the form of cylindrical
rolls (maki-zushi), cone-shaped hand rolls (temaki-zushi), battleship
sushi (gunkan-zushi), or rice balls (onigiri). Snacks are also made by
folding small nori sheets around rice cakes (senbei). Toasted nori, which
is cut into small pieces or narrow strips, and sometimes mixed with soy
sauce, is often sprinkled on salad or rice as a taste enhancer or as a
seasoning (furikake). Most Japanese meals, even breakfast, will be ac-
companied by nori in one form or another. Nori can also be cooked and
simmered with soy sauce and sweet rice wine to form a product, nori-
tsukudani, that is like a thick and viscous paste that can be used as a
Fig. 4. Mozuku (Cladosiphon okamuranus). (Courtesy of Jonas Drotner
Mouritsen.).
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International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science 14 (2018) 55–65
condiment with cooked rice. Most often nori-tsukedani is not made from
Porphyra/Pyropia spp. but from Monostroma spp. Nori-tsukudani and can
be compared with the traditional Welsh laverbread that is made by
cooking the European purple laver species Porphyra umbilicalis in salt
for a long time. Or similarly the Irish version called sleabhac or sloke
(see below).
Hijiki or hiziki (Sargassum fusiforme, formerly Hizikia fusiforme) is a
brown seaweed that is harvested in Japan early in the year and is then
sun dried, boiled, and dried again after which it becomes pitch black.
Hijiki, that unfortunately can contain high amounts of arsenic, has a
pleasant firm texture and a mild, nutty taste, which may also come
across as a bit insipid. It can, therefore, benefit from the addition of a
dash of soy sauce. It pairs well with ingredients that are somewhat
sweet, especially if it has been cooked with a little sweet rice wine,
mirin, and is particularly good in simmered dishes. It is often used in
Japan as a topping on cooked rice or as a condiment for breakfast.
Arame (Ecklonia bicyclis or Ecklonia arborea) is a brown alga har-
vested along the Pacific coast of Japan. It is first sun dried, then
steamed or boiled for several hours, cut into strips, and dried once
again. Dried arame has a very dark colour, but it turns brownish when it
is soaked in water. The taste of arame resembles hijiki but it is slightly
milder and less salty. Arame is used in salads and soups, but can also be
marinated.
A particular application of seaweed in traditional as well as modern
Japanese cuisine is an extract made of the red seaweed tengusa
(Gelidium amansii) which contains large amounts of agar (kanten), a
powerful hydrogelling agent. Many Japanese desserts and confections
are based on a paste made from small, sweet azuki beans. A stiff jelly,
known as yōkan as shown in Fig. 5, is produced from azuki bean paste
by setting it with kanten. Yōkan has a solid, chewy mouthfeel and is
eaten like a candy. Often yōkan is mixed with powdered green tea,
maccha, and eaten as a jelly or used as a filling in cakes and confections.
In China, seaweeds (or hǎicǎo) were consumed as early as 2700 BCE.
They were also considered in high regard as their colloquial name hai-
ts´ai (sea vegetables) suggests. In the year 600 BCE the Chinese scholar
Sze Teu wrote: “some seaweeds are a delicacy for the most honourable
guests, even for the king himself”. In fact, the term hǎicǎo was generally
used metaphorically as a great compliment (Porterfield, 1922). In the
Sung Dynasty (960–1279), Porphyra/Pyropia was presented every year
as a special delicacy to the Emperor (Tseng, 1984). Although their
culinary use is less extensive than in Japan, it seems that the Chinese
showed the Japanese both their medicinal and culinary uses. As a
whole, at least 74 seaweed species are used as human food or medicine
in China, but most notably wakame, kombu and nori (Xia and Abbot,
1987). The Chinese prefer seaweeds as a hot dish, broth or soup, for
example, whereas the Japanese prefer to cook them ahead of time and
then eat them cold as sandwich wrappings or a gelatinous dish. Over
the past several centuries kombu (mostly imported from Japan) was sold
widely in China and eaten particularly when green vegetables were
scarce, an inexpensive food and well-liked when properly cooked, e.g.,
with pork and soy sauce. Today, one of the most typical dishes is
Cantonese “Seaweed Soup” (zǐcài dàn huā tāng), whose ingredients are
nori, rice wine (“sherry”), ginger, shallots, and a poached egg. Seaweed
Fig. 5. Yōkan made from red azuki beans and gelled with kanten, agar extracted
from Gelidium amansii. (Courtesy of Jonas Drotner Mouritsen.).
O.G. Mouritsen et al.
may be used in fish dishes, such as in “Green Seaweed and Fillet of
Sole” and in vegetable dishes (Simoons, 1991). One of these involves
mixing seaweed with meat or chopped vegetables for use as filling or
stuffing for dumplings (Xia and Abbot, 1987). Nori sheets, and perhaps
other seaweeds, may also serve as a wrapping, as in “Minced Shrimp in
Nori Rolls” (Lee and Branyon, 1984). Shanghai is famous for its fla-
vourful, colourful and crispy “Seaweed Fish”, deep-fried fish fillets in
batter with shredded seaweed, as well as for its seaweed fried rice and
the cold appetiser “Hot and Sour Seaweed” with chopped seaweed in a
soy sauce, vinegar, chili oil and garlic mixture. Strips of agar are sof-
tened by washing or soaking in cold water, then prepared as “Agar-Agar
Salad”, commonly with ham or chicken and other ingredients (Simoons,
1991). Agar-Agar also serves as a cheap substitute in bird´s nest soup
(Chapman, 1980).
As in China, and especially in Japan, the ocean provided Koreans
with an ample supply of seaweeds (or jolyu) and their consumption
became very popular and a very sacred part of the culture. A prominent
example that is maintained to the present day is the miyukkuk (or
miyeok), a soup made by cooking wakame in a clam stock. This clear
soup is high in protein and also easy to digest, making it an ideal food
for women after giving birth and for breast-feeding. This soup is also
consumed at birthdays as a way of offering thanks to the deity (Samsin
Grandmother) believed to govern childbirth on behalf of the Jade
Emperor (ok-whang-sang-je) according to ancient Korean folklore.
Another soup based on seaweeds was the Kwakt’ang, a dish out of the 24
served during the five daily meals (or Sura) to the royals in the Choson
Dynasty (1392–1910) (Pettid, 2008). During the second half of the 20th
century the Japanese encouraged commercial cultivation of nori in
Korea to supplement traditional wild harvesting, and promoted Koreans
eating in the Japanese style (O'Connor, 2017). The gimbap is the Korean
version of the Japanese maki-zushi (cf. Fig. 6), but usually contains
more ingredients and is seasoned (brushed) with sesame or perilla oil
instead of rice vinegar. Gim refers to nori (seaweed) and bap to short-
grain, white cooked rice. Some types of gimbap may include spicy
cooked squid or tuna, luncheon meat or cheese. In one variation, sliced
pieces of gimbap may be lightly fried with an egg coating, developing a
wonderful savory flavour (Pettid, 2008).
Europe
It is thought that the people of the Mesolithic Era (c. 9000–4000
BCE) used edible seaweeds along with fish and shellfish as suggested by
large "middens" or areas of shell deposits that have been excavated in
the coastal areas where they lived, including sites in Ireland. This in
turn suggests that the builders of Newgrange (c. 3200 BCE) were al-
ready familiar with seaweeds in their diet.
The Brehon Laws, a complicated and comprehensive set of laws
covering all aspects of Irish law were already old by the time they were
first written down in the 5th century, and have been described as
covering all aspects of Irish life from "bee-keeping to tree-keeping to
sea-keeping". The section specific to legal affairs is known as the "Crith
Fig. 6. Korean gimbap made with nori sheets (Porphyra/Pyropia spp.). (Courtesy
of Max Wei.).
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International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science 14 (2018) 55–65
Gabhlach" and mentions duileasc by name as a condiment to be served
with bread, whey milk and butter. It was also served with roast fowl.
The 18th century Scottish and Irish immigrants to North America
clearly associated duileasc with the taste of home, and often had small
parcels of it sent to them, despite the fact that it has always grown well
off the shores of North America, particularly in the area of the Bay of
Fundy.
The Auld Lammas Fair, in Ballycastle, Northern Ireland, was first
held in 1606, and represents an unbroken four centuries of dulse
trading in the province. Visitors to the fair, held on the last Monday and
Tuesday in August every year, are often surprised to see the prominence
and amount of dulse on sale in market stalls.
Seaweeds are used on a considerable scale in Europe, but as ferti-
lizer and for feeding animals rather than people (Chapman, 1980). In
the Historia do Japõo (1585) by the Portuguese Jesuit Luís Fróis, the
different culinary habits of Europeans and Japanese became evident:
“Europeans enjoy chicken, partridge and blancmange; the Japanese
love wild dogs, cranes, monkeys, cats, and raw seaweed” (Fr´ois, 1585).
In most northern European countries seaweed consumption was not
uncommon at all, although its use was both small-scale and local
compared to that in Asia. Ireland and Scotland are probably among the
European regions were phycophagy was more extended. Ancient Irish
coastal people collected shellfish and added seaweeds, vegetables, and
herbs to make a sort of soup that was left to simmer for several hours
and consumed with oat bread (Sexton, 1998). The monks of St. Co-
lumba of Iona (Western Scotland) harvested dulse 1400 years ago
mostly to feed poor people, as recorded in a Gaelic poem attributed to
St. Columba. In Camden´s Brittania (1607) the harvest and the manu-
facture of a seaweed-based food called Lhavan or Lhawvan (black
butter) was described (Newton, 1951). Unlike in Asian countries, sea-
weed consumption in Ireland and Scotland was often synonymous with
penury and frugality, although it has also been claimed by some sources
that different seaweeds were also freely consumed in times of abun-
dance (O'Connor, 2017), such as demonstrated in the following ex-
amples: “In Scotland and Ireland it [dulse] is much eaten by the poor,
usually raw, more rarely boiled or fried; the smaller varieties growing
on rocks are preferred, as being less leathery in texture and sweeter in
taste.” In A. Soyer's “St. Patrick's Soup”, one of the soups invented by
him for the starving Irish [during the Great Famine that ravaged that
country between 1845 and 1852 due to poor potato harvests], it forms
the principal ingredient. When the dried frond is steeped in water it
exhales a violet scent” (Gifford, 1853). “Dulse is generally eaten raw in
Aberdeen. Raw or toasted with hot irons, or fried, but especially raw, it
seasons oaten or wheaten bread admirably. Pepper-dulse (Osmundea
pinnatifida) is much more rare and more piquant than dulse. At
Aberdeen every dulse-wife [dulse gatherers and sellers] has ordinarily a
few handfuls of pepper-dulse, half-a-dozen plants of which she adds
when asked, to every halfpenny worth of dulse. Sometimes there is one
who, being weakly, has nothing but pepper-dulse, which is less heavy to
carry, and more costly than the common breakfast relish of the Aber-
donians” (Robertson, 1856). “In Ireland, dulse is eaten with butter and
fish, and is also boiled in milk with rye flour. Some gentlemen in the
Scotch Highlands are quoted as holding that “a dish of dulse boiled in
milk is the best of all vegetables”” (Smith, 1905). Of all the edible
seaweeds growing along the Irish coastline, duileasc (dulse, Palmaria
palmata) is certainly among the best documented historically.
The 19th century historian Robin Flower recounted how boatmen in
the Blasket Islands chewed it constantly, while women kept a supply in
their pockets and Dr. Browne, visiting Belmullet, Co Mayo in the 1880s
described how the women in the area: “attended to all of the housework
and the needs of their children, helped in the fields and on the bog and
gathered and dried carraigin (Chondrus cripsus) and duileasc (Palmaria
palmata). This was sold in the neighbouring town for two shillings a
stone, to where the women walked, barefoot, as they were expected to
save their boots for market days and holidays. The men, on the other
hand, suffered under no such restraints.”
O.G. Mouritsen et al. International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science 14 (2018) 55–65

Fig. 7. Dried dulse (Palmaria palmata). (Courtesy of Jonas Drotner Mouritsen.).

Fig. 8. Welsh laverbread from purple laver (Pyropia spp.). (Courtesy of Jonas
The use of dulse (søl in old Norse), cf. Fig. 7, by the Norse in Iceland Drotner Mouritsen.).
dates back to at least the year 961. It is mentioned in many ancient
Icelandic documents as a highly valued, palatable, healthy, and nour-
ingredients, with such novel creations that some of them are even way
ishing food. Dulse was recollected and traded in 1118, and Iceland's
ahead of the seaweed dishes currently found in modern haute cuisine
oldest surviving law texts (e. g. Grágás, early 1700s) mentioned the
(probably his culinary preferences could be understood attending to his
right to gather and eat dulse whilst on another man's land. Collection
oriental origin: Prince Dakkar, son of the Hindu Raja of Bundelkhand):
rights were considered a great concession and licenses were issued to
“[Professor Aronnax]: I did justice to this meal. It was made up of
many churches all around Iceland. It was probably eaten by both rich
various fish and some slices of sea cucumber, that praiseworthy zoo-
and poor (Hallsson, 1964). After collection, it was washed thoroughly
phyte, all garnished with such highly appetizing seaweed as the Por-
in fresh water, dried and packed in barrels or special huts where it was
phyra/Pyropia laciniata [laver] and the Laurencia primafetida (sic)
kept dry and compressed, sometimes for months before eating. Dulse
[pepper-dulse]. Our beverage consisted of clear water to which, fol-
was often consumed daily with dried fish and butter or with milk and
lowing the captain's example, I added some drops of a fermented liquor
bread. Nowadays, dulse is only occasionally collected and eaten in
extracted by the Kamchatka process from the seaweed known by name
salads or as a snack, just as was done in the past.
as Rhodymenia palmata [dulse].”
Alaria esculenta (winged kelp) was also used in Iceland to a con-
The use of seaweeds as part of the diet has virtually disappeared in
siderable extent as food during the past centuries. It was left for two
Europe, although it still persists in the popular cuisine of certain parts
days in fresh water, chopped, cooked with water or milk and flour and
of Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany, Iceland, Norway, or Denmark. In
eaten as a thick pudding with milk or cream. According to Pratt (1850):
Ireland it is not uncommon to see farmers selling dulse (dillesk, in
“This sea-weed has when first tasted a pleasant flavour; but that it
Gaelic) at roadsides. Dulse champ is a traditional favourite in Northern
leaves upon the tongue and mouth a disagreeable crust of greenish
Ireland: potatoes mashed with milk and butter, sprinkled with cooked
mucus. The midrib is eaten in its raw state, but it would not easily be
and chopped dulse. In Wales, laver is used to make the popular laver-
digested by any but persons who can take robust exercise, for it is as
bread (or bara lawr), cf. Fig. 8, a sort of mash eaten for breakfast with
hard as the raw carrot or turnip of our fields, and to many its fishy,
oatmeal, bacon and cockles. Laverbread bears some resemblance to the
coppery flavour is very unpleasant.”
Japanese nori-tsukudani. The preparation of Welsh laver traditionally
Chondrus crispus (Irish moss) was often picked along with the dulse,
begins with a thorough rinsing, followed by boiling for six hours or
but consumed preferentially during hard seasons. The method of pre-
more, until it becomes a brown and mucilaginous sludgy mass, highly
paration was somewhat similar to that for Alaria. There is evidence that
digestible and full of the flavour of the sea (O´Connor, 2013). Laver has
Laminaria digitata (oarweed) and Laminaria hyperborea (tangle) fronds
long been used to prepare a sauce for roast lamb (lambs grazing on
and Ascophyllum nodosum (knotted wrack) have been eaten in times of
saltmarshes are a Welsh specialty), the marine flavours of the sauce and
starvation (Hallsson, 1964). Laver (Porphyra/Pyropia) was cooked, to-
meat combining in complete harmony with each other (O'Connor,
gether with other species of seaweeds, and they were kept over a long
2017).
period in sealed jars. In the absence of other fresh vegetables, this was
On Inishmurray Island, off the west coast of Ireland, sleabhac (Gaelic
an indispensable item in the diet of whaling crews in these countries.
name for laver, Pyropia spp.) was harvested right after the first heavy
In contrast to Northern Europe, in Southern European countries
frost of the season which was usually in early January. Traditionally it
there has been no significant tradition of seaweed consumption, prob-
was simmered for up to four hours, then seasoned with a little salt and
ably because of the influence of the Graeco-Roman socio-cultural atti-
pepper and mixed with very finely diced onion. It was eaten on its own
tudes that did not value at all marine products and did not consider
or with potato or bread.
seaweeds edible, certainly not by civilized peoples (O'Connor, 2013).
The book Irish Seaweed Kitchen (Rhatigan, 2009) features accounts
Seaweeds were trash forms of marine life having little value: et genus et
from people living on the Irish west coast, who at that time were ha-
virtus, nisi cum re, vilior algâ est (high birth and meritorious deeds, if not
bitual sleabhac users and who had inherited the practices of harvesting
linked to wealth, are as useless as seaweed) (Satires II, v8 by Horace, 65
and cooking the sea vegetable from their parents. Recipes and har-
BCE) or refunditur algâ (the sea detests seaweeds and casts them ashore)
vesting methods can vary quite a lot, even within a small geographic
(anonymous). As an example, seaweeds do not seem to be mentioned,
area. Traditionally the sleabhac was boiled, with some varieties eaten
not even as a garnish, in the recipes of the famous work De re coquinaria
raw or roasted. The modern Irish kitchen has contributed to how
[On the Subject of Cooking] by the Roman Marcus Gavius Apicius (30–20
sleabhac is treated these days, insofar as freezing the vegetable shortens
BCE- 31–41 CE), considered to be the first gourmand in history, al-
the cooking time by about 1 ½ hours as opposed to the traditional four
though two of the books it contains (IX: Thalassa and X: Alieus) are
hours. Modern cooks can also store a block by freezing it directly from
largely and exclusively devoted to how to cook different species of fish
the shore, once sand free, then slicing thinly when needed.
and seafood, including creations of sauces and very complex prepara-
In Austria and Germany, for example, seaweeds are added to dough
tions. It seems that seaweed dishes were only highly appreciated by
to produce a highly prized bread, algenbrot, a blend of cereals whose
Captain Nemo, the central character in Jules Verne's novel Twenty
composition is up to 3% seaweed. In Brittany, dulse and kombu are used
Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (1868)! He entertains his guest, Pro-
to make the bara mor or “bread of the sea”; and minced seaweed in
fessor Aronnax, with delicacies exclusively based on marine
butter (beurre des algues) is used for cooking fish or spreading on bread

59
O.G. Mouritsen et al.
to accompany shellfish.
In Spain, in spite of its extensive coastal area and its richness in
seaweeds, sea vegetables did not become ingredients of the
Mediterranean diet. Their culinary use has been rather anecdotal (even
in northern regions such as Galicia), quite possibly due to the great
diversity of alternative food provided by land-grown vegetables. They
have often been considered to be an exotic component on menus.
However, in line with other neighbouring countries, various seaweeds
are starting to have a daily presence at the table in many households (in
rice, pasta, croquettes, pie fillings, etc.) and are becoming more and
more established as star ingredients in haute cuisine (Pérez-Lloréns
et al., 2018). The European market for seaweeds (mostly for culinary
uses) is currently growing at yearly growth rates of 7–10%, with an
estimated wholesale value in 2013 at about EUR 24 million in Europe
(Organic Monitor, 2014).
The Americas
Some coastal tribes of Native Americans, including the Inuit, often
used seaweeds as a subsistence food resource. Red laver (Porphyra/
Pyropia spp.) was the most widely eaten seaweed by indigenous com-
munities along the West Coast of Canada (e.g., Kwakwaka'wakw, Haida,
Tsimshian, etc.). There were many popular techniques of preparing,
preserving, and serving red laver. The Kwakwaka'wakw and the Haida
tribes dried the seaweeds, heaping them up afterwards, allowing fer-
mentation for several days. Dried seaweeds, shaped in a kind of “cake”,
were chopped or shredded into portions, boiled and used in soups or
stews. Kwakwaka'wakw people sometimes dried and toasted single
sheets of laver, crushing and boiling it later. The easiest way to keep the
seaweed, the one most widely used nowadays, was to spread it out on
rocks in the sun. Once dry, it was broken into small pieces and stored. It
was then eaten dry, either as a snack or cooked in a variety of dishes. It
was usually mixed or cooked with halibut heads, eulachon oil, clams,
the fat of deer, bear or seal, or with salmon or salmon roe. Dried sea-
weed was an everyday trade article among families and communities
(Kuhnlein and Turner, 1991).
Migratory movements in the mid 19th century established sig-
nificant Asian (the largest phycophages) and Irish (and Scottish) com-
munities in regions such as California and New England (United States)
or British Columbia and Nova Scotia (Canada) and they extended the
culinary use of seaweeds into the New World. Although dulse con-
sumption was not commonly adopted in North America, it was some-
times observed in areas of heavy Irish settlement. However, it became a
part of the culinary tradition of the Atlantic Maritime provinces of
Canada, the end of the journey for many Scottish and Irish immigrants,
who brought with them their passion for cooking with dulse. Dried
dulse remains a widespread snack in these areas today.
The inhabitants of some coastal regions in South America also ate
seaweeds during periods of scarcity. For instance, macocho (Gigartina
spp.) is typical of Peru, and luche (Pyropia columbina) and cochayuyo
(Durvillaea antarctica) have been consumed in Chile since pre-
Columbian times. The first record of seaweed used by man for food
and/or medicine was found in Monte Verde (Chile) going 14.000 years
back (Dillehay et al., 2008).
Luche, mainly consumed in South America, is a popular food among
rural people and in fishing villages, especially the indigenous Mapuche
and Mestizo. It is made into filling for empanadas (pies); used in char-
quican (fish stew); sautéed with onions and potatoes; prepared as a
budin (with bread, milk, eggs and cheese) and added to soups, stews and
salads; and in a typical meal, lamb cazuela with luche. It can also be
added to any soup, risotto, sauce or sauté , and the dry flakes can be
sprinkled over rice, pasta, or other foods as an herbal salt substitute.
The cochayuyo (cf. Fig. 9) is used in many Creole recipes such as
charquican, empanadas, lamb pot-au-feu, in a variety of stews as a meat
substitute, or in the ulte salad (with minced onion and cilantro and
other vegetables to taste, and dressed with oil and lemon juice)
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International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science 14 (2018) 55–65
Fig. 9. “Trolas” (dried and folded cochayuyo blades) (Durvillaea antarctica)
ready to be sent to the local market. (Courtesy of Rodrigo Aner Padilla
Mazurett.).
(Montecino, 2005).
The Mapuche used cochayuyo widely at the time the Spanish ar-
rived, and it was adopted early on by the colonizers themselves.
According to Pereira (1977), the Spanish conquistador Cortéz Ojea said:
“[Indians] began to bring some wild herbs that grow on the sea shores
and are like turnips or snakes, which we stewed in this manner: we
roasted the hard stems, like fat radishes, in the ashes to make them
more tender and then we put them on to boil in small pieces like fin-
gers, for five or six hours; we added flour and mashed them well, then
returned them to the pots and cooked them for an hour with limpets
and shellfish. The leaves [blades] we mixed with flour and we made
bread in the form of tortillas; they were two thirds flour and one third
herb, and some had as much herb as flour.”
Brazil and Peru host the largest ethnic Japanese population in South
America because of their immigration in the late 19th century as
plantation workers (Masterson and Funada-Classen, 2004). Through
time, it led to a combination of local foods and flavours with Japanese
culinary refinement and their devotion to the freshest ingredients.
Nikkei is the paradigm of Japanese-Peruvian fusion food that is starting
to sweep the globe. Nikkei–style sushi uses seaweeds and excellent fresh
fish and shellfish from the Pacific coast, usually stuffed with ceviche,
shrimp and palm heart, or with crab, cucumber and avocado. Brazilian-
Japanese sushi is more dazzling. Fresh tropical fruits (mango and kiwi),
cream cheese, and salmon are preferred fillings. Nori-wrapped sushi are
usually battered and deep-fried, often served with chili mayonnaise or
tropical fruit sauces decorated with limes and fresh seaweed, while
temaki is a much-esteemed street food.
Other regions
For around 3000 years the inhabitants of some Polynesian Islands
(i.e., Hawaii) have consumed limu (a mixture of edible seaweeds:
Asparagopsis taxiformis, Grateloupia filicina, Gracilaria coronopifolia,
Laurencia nidifica, Codium spp., Ulva spp., etc.), which they cultivated in
special marine gardens created by the ali´i (or chiefs) (Ostraff, 2003). As
in most Asian countries, seaweeds have been considered a delicacy fine
enough to serve as an offering to the Gods (Madlener, 1977).
Hawaiian preparation of limu consists of mashing or chopping the
freshly collected seaweed, adding salt and perhaps fresh chili pepper,
and eating it as a relish in a fish and poi (or more recently, rice) meal.
Poi is derived from taro (Colocasia esculenta, a root vegetable), and once
steamed it is minced with water into a sticky cream. It is served cold
and has a slightly acid taste. The piquancy associated with certain
species of seaweeds added to bland poi or rice has been one of the
historical and current reasons for retaining seaweeds in the food choices
O.G. Mouritsen et al.
Fig. 10. Typical Hawaiian poke salad. (Courtesy of Peter Liu.).
of Hawaiians descended from native Polynesians (Abbot, 1978). Limu is
very popular at the native Hawaiian feast (luau) that celebrates the first
birthday of a child, or the 75th birthday of a parent or grandparent, or
the 50th wedding anniversary. Limu is served on a piece of ti (cabbage
palm leaf, Cordyline fruticosa), and added to fish, chicken, or pork as
preferred. Today, prepared limu is a most acceptable gift to bring when
visiting whether prepared in Hawaiian, Japanese, Korean, or Filipino
ways (Abbot, 1978).
The traditional combination of raw liver with Grateloupia filicina is
so specific and popular that the seaweed is often called ake limu (liver
seaweed). Aku-po-ke is a preparation of raw fish (tuna as first choice,
but other fish as well), cut into chunks and mixed with seaweeds and
inamona (a condiment made from candlenuts and sea salt) (Abbot,
1978). Nowadays, poke salad (cf. Fig. 10) is gaining acceptance
worldwide. Another food frequently consumed in Hawaii is nori-maki or
maki made by Japanese for picnics and snacks, sold in Japanese stores,
delicatessens, and restaurants. The Korean population in Hawaii has
contributed a pickled seaweed relish (Ogo Kim Chee) that has been
modified from one traditionally prepared with cabbage (Kim Chee) by
adding ogo (Gracilaria spp. or Halymenia spp.).
In the Tongan islands, before the arrival of Christian missionaries
(1820), the consumption and sale of limu were vital for the survival of
women, since they were banned from consuming many varieties of fish,
pork, sea turtles and some fruits (coconuts, bananas). Limu was a
"famine" food during times of drought or environmental stress, and it
was referred to as the “poor man´s meat”. A regular family of ap-
proximately twenty members could consume up to 14.4 kg of limu per
person every year. Seaweeds could be pounded, boiled, baked, dried or
crushed. Although some kinds were allowed to ferment slightly to
deepen the flavour, or soaked in seawater for a day to lessen the iodine
taste, seaweeds were usually eaten fresh soon after picking, either on
their own as a relish for bland sweet potatoes or taro, or chopped up and
mixed with fish and shellfish. Today in Tonga, limu consumption does
not play a significant role in the diets of most people (Ostraff, 2003).
The widespread use of seaweeds as human food in Indonesia was
recorded as early as 1292 when the first European ships sailed through
Indonesian waters. For centuries, the islanders utilized marine algae as
a food supplement, especially as "sayur" or as a vegetable (Zaneveld,
1955). However, algal consumption was limited to fishermen and
normally the edible species did not reach local markets. But some
species used in making sweetened jellies were transported further in-
land. Hogue (1922) mentioned some 21 species of useful seaweeds in
Indonesia. This fact indicated that Indonesians ate seaweeds in various
forms: raw as salads, boiled as vegetable, mixed with various spices,
pickled, cooked with coconut milk, for soup thickening, pudding, and
sweetened jellies (Soegiarto and Sulustijo, 1990).
In the Philippines, one of the popular seaweeds is guso (Eucheuma
spinosum). The most common way to prepare this red seaweed is in the
kinilaw-style. That is, seaweeds are blanched for a few seconds in
boiling water, and then vinegar, tomato, ginger, onion, and chili are
added. In Thailand, seaweeds are consumed fresh or blanched as salad
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International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science 14 (2018) 55–65
vegetables, mixed with some ingredients, or used in soup preparations
(Lewmanomont, 1978).
In some regions, old, long forgotten, traditions of using seaweeds as
food are being revived. An interesting study was recently published on
how a modern food culture involving seaweeds (Porphyra/Pyropia spp.)
at the Azores Islands) can be designed through foraging and recipes
(Matos, 2013).
The use of seaweeds as human foodstuff has never been of great
importance in New Zealand. Both Maori (descendants of the country´s
first Polynesian immigrants) and Pakeha (descendants of the European
immigrants in the early 1800) preferred terrestrial vegetables and fruits
to seaweeds. However, early Maori would have been familiar with
green seaweeds of the genus Caulerpa that thrives in tropical Polynesian
waters. The traditional Maori diet included several seaweed species,
both as foods and medicines: greens (Ulva spp.), browns (Durvillaea
antarctica (called rimuroa) and Hormosira banksii) and reds (Porphyra/
Pyropia spp. (called karengo) and Gigartina spp. (called rehia)). The
Maori considered karengo a traditional delicacy (Smith et al., 2010;
SANZ, 2018). “Indigenous tribes have long recognized the importance
of supplementing their diets with seaweed to increase fertility and re-
productive health. Even today, the Maori tribe of New Zealand will not
permit young people to marry until they have undertaken a special diet
that includes sea vegetables. Future mothers-in-law have been known to
walk three hundred miles, over mountains, to get to the sea and collect
and dry seaweed for the wedding couple. They have learned through
centuries of experience that there is some prized, life-giving ingredient
in sea plants that is essential for fertility, conception and pregnancy.”
(Cooksley, 2007).
European immigrants consumed Porphyra/Pyropia spp. and made
milk puddings using carrageen (Gigartina spp.) gathered on New
Zealand shores. During the Second World War, dried Porphyra/Pyropia
spp. was supplied to the Maori Battalion as a nutrition on the march,
and possibly also for its laxative effects. It was also noted that chewing
seaweed was more thirst-quenching than chewing gum on desert mar-
ches (Brooker et al., 1981).
Today, edible seaweeds are sold in New Zealand at small, family-run
market stalls selling fresh sea lettuce (Ulva spp.) and by larger com-
mercial operators selling a variety of dried seaweeds, mostly Ulva spp.,
Porphyra/Pyropia spp. and a number of brown seaweeds that are all
marketed as kelp such as Ecklonia radiata, Macrocystis pyrifera, and the
recently introduced Asian species Undaria pinnatifida (Smith et al.,
2010). Karengo is the most popular and is consumed in several ways
(SANZ, 2018): 1. Broken into mouth-sized pieces, soaked in water and
rinsed. Put into a pot with a knob of butter, covered with water and
simmered until tender. This could take up to an hour. It is rather like
cooking pasta - the karengo is ready when it is al dente and it looks like a
bowl of cooked spinach pasta. 2. As karengo chips. Put dried karengo
into a hot wok or pan with a little oil. Cook until crisp - great with a
cold beer. 3. As a hot soup. Roast karengo under the grill and crumble it
into a cup of hot water. 4. Maori and Welsh cultures come together in
laver bread. Spread clean fronds of karengo on a plate sprinkled with
oatmeal. Further layers of oatmeal and seaweed are laid on top, fin-
ishing with a layer of oatmeal. Roll the sheets into a wad, slice with a
sharp knife and fry in bacon fat or butter.
Australia does not have a long documented history of seaweed
consumption (Winberg, 2017). However, today as in many Western
countries, seaweeds are becoming a fashionable ingredient in some of
the most important Australian restaurants (Tinellis, 2014).
The rise and rise of the Irish seaweed cuisine
In order to illustrate the modern development of a seaweed cuisine
based on a century-long tradition we use the Irish seaweed cuisine as a
model example. Seaweed as a culinary item in Ireland has been linked
to penury for centuries, and this was never more in evidence than
during the catastrophic potato famine that ravaged the island in the
O.G. Mouritsen et al.
19th century. Those who had nothing else to eat scavenged the shor-
elines and ate to survive, and the folk memories associated with the
great famine persist to this day.
Apart from the harvesters scattered along the west and north-west
coast, some individuals who inherited the practice of eating seaweeds
from their elders, and the odd carraigin moss pudding, the use of edible
seaweeds was very limited until the end of the 20th century. That said,
it is worth noting Mike Guiry's observation that Seamus MacAn
Iomaire's Cladaigh Chonamara (Iomaire, 1938) mentioned about 32
species of seaweed that were used in south-west Connamara at this
time, indicating a much wider folk knowledge of seaweed in the west of
Ireland than is generally appreciated, even if the algae were not in
mainstream culinary use.
The first decade of the new century brought several significant
changes to Ireland. A steady prosperity gave people the opportunity to
absorb and appreciate their unique surroundings. Traditions and cus-
toms that had been dormant, or barely acknowledged for years began to
go mainstream. Around this time, one of the authors of this article
published her lifelong collection of seaweed recipes in a book that also
provided valuable information and a life-style vision that evoked a
charm and nostalgia compatible with the burgeoning wish to de-urba-
nise and move to the coast that was common currency at the time
(Rhatigan, 2009). Dr. Rhatigan's cookery landscape was extremely
comprehensive in-so-far as she stitched the addition of Irish seaweeds
into everyday cookery, invited high profile chefs to contribute recipes,
respected the harvesting and culinary traditions of marine algae as she
found them, and featured current harvesters and their work, cf. Fig. 11.
The book appealed to the general public, presenting an appreciated mix
of tradition, lore, health, cookery, celebrity and life-style.
A defining moment came when Dr. Rhatigan with the help of chef
Eithna O'Sullivan and support from Bord Iascaigh Mhara (Irish Sea
Fisheries Board) and Bord Bia (Irish Food Board) prepared a seaweed
feast in Sligo to launch the book and invited food journalists from all
over Ireland to attend. Every plate was licked clean, and the media were
now well and truly on board. The baton was taken up by local chefs,
then regional, then national and international. Side by side grew an
interest in sea walks, beach walks, seaweed identification walks, sea-
weed festivals. Every coastal county in Ireland now offers walks where
the coast is celebrated.
It is fair to say that the current status of seaweed as a prized item on
Irish menus in Irish restaurants has been promoted by a host of Irish
chefs over the last 15–20 years and longer. Among the first was the
doyenne of Irish food, Myrtle Allen of Ballymaloe House, who trans-
formed the humble carraigin moss pudding from a national go-to cough
remedy to a luxury dessert where it remains a firm favourite to this day.
Gerry Galvin from Drimcong House, Brid Torrades, Osta, Sligo town
and Northern Ireland chef Noel Mc Meel were all advocates of the use of
dulse while Cork chefs, Clodagh McKenna and Denis Cotter, also fea-
tured carraigin moss innovatively in their cooking. Michelin-starred
chef Kevin Thornton embraced the use of seaweeds for many years,
Fig. 11. A modern Irish dish of hummus with green seaweed, stringed sea
lettuce (Ulva intestinalis). (Courtesy of James Connolly.).
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International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science 14 (2018) 55–65
while Enda Mc Evoy of Loam, Galway, currently uses a wide range, and
Katie Sanderson, of the charming two year Dillisk Project in
Connamara, educated the palates of many summer guests. It could be
that these days a seaweed dish on the menu is a badge of honour.
Ireland is lucky to have a fine raft of chefs championing seaweed at
the present time, and was fortunate to have Prannie Rhatigan enter the
scene when she did. However, the scene is now set to further develop
the industry with the entrance of the highly dynamic Michelin-starred
chef J. P. McMahon, Anair Galway, who annually creates an event,
Food on the Edge, where matters pertaining to sustainability, waste,
nutrition and the future of food in general are debated by panellists
from all over Europe. At a 2016 event, seaweed was selected for the
spotlight, undergoing critical analysis which left the assembled food
specialists in no doubt that seaweeds are, truly, a food of the past,
present and future.
The rise, and rise of interest, in Irish seaweeds does not come
without its own set of problems in the form of harvesting rights. There
is widespread concern along the coastal areas that the native right to
harvest is being steadily removed from those who have guarded the
tradition for centuries, in some cases without their consultation, per-
mission or even knowledge. It is beyond the furthest limits of their
imagination that they may one morning in the very near future be re-
fused access to an adjacent beach on the grounds that the rights to
harvest have been sold over their heads, but this is a reality. One can
only hope that the powers entrusted with the protection of such matters
will rally and protect the harvest and the tradition that goes with it
before it's too late.
Seaweed cookbooks
There are a number of books on seaweed cooking. Some books deal
with nutrition and health benefits of seaweeds (Arasaki and Arasaki,
1983; Pereira, 2016, 2018) and others derive from the holistic health-
food movement (Bradford and Bradford, 1986; Hara, 1990; Lewallen
and Lewallen, 1996; Saulnier and Dieudonné, 1998; Erhart and Cerier,
2001; Arzel and Barbaroux, 2003; Babel, 2005; Fryer and Simmons,
2005; Delacroix, 2006; Cocksley, 2007; Tylor, 2008; Dougoud et al.,
2010; Hampikian et al., 2013; Onishi et al., 2013; Brunner, 2016;
Kreischner and Shuttelaar, 2016; Seaver, 2016; Chamas and Caparrós,
2017). Still other books are more conventional cookbooks (Madlener,
1977; Ellis, 1999; Chavannes, 2002; Gusman and Ingrum, 2003; Coisel,
2003; Maderia, 2007; Dougoud, 2009a, 2009b, 2013, 2017; Castro and
Xatruch, 2011; Le Roux, 2014; Bird, 2015; Harrison, 2015; Marfaing
et al., 2016; Milne, 2016; Hartung, 2017; Quéva and Le Joncour, 2017;
Siefert et al., 2017). Some books focus on the nature of the seashore,
harvesting, and the biology of seaweeds (Harbo, 1988; McConnaughey,
2002; Huston and Milne, 2008; Wright, 2010; Christian, 2013;
Warwick-Evans and van Berkel, 2017). Yet other books deal with re-
gional cuisines (Matignon, 1992; Le Roux, 1998; Turner, 1995, 2004;
Dubin and Ross, 2008; Blumenthal et al., 2009; Le Tennier, 2009;
Rhatigan, 2009; Garza and Garza, 2012; Tinellis, 2014; Davies, 2016;
Lambert, 2016). Finally, there is a small number of monographs written
by scientists who combine science, cooking, nutrition, health, as well as
some technological application of seaweeds (Mouritsen, 2013a; Kilinç̧
et al., 2013; Pérez-Lloréns et al., 2016, 2018; Druehl, 2016; Ibáñez and
Guerrero, 2017; O’Connor, 2017).
Sensory perception of seaweeds
In order to understand and evaluate the gustatory appreciation of
seaweeds as food, and to see the potential of chefs and scientists
working together on seaweeds, it is important to realize that the per-
ception of its ‘taste’ goes way beyond the sensory perception on the
taste buds (Shepherd, 2011; Mouritsen and Styrbæk, 2014) as reviewed
recently in the context of a rising phycogastronomy (Mouritsen,
Rhatigan et al., 2018).
O.G. Mouritsen et al.
Fig. 12. Hana tsunomata, farmed varieties of carrageen (Chondrus crispus) in
four natural colours. (Courtesy of Jonas Drotner Mouritsen.).
The tasting of seaweeds involves all five basic senses: seeing,
hearing, tasting, smelling, and touching. It is not possible to understand
why seaweeds have a central place in, e.g., Japanese cuisine (Japanese
Culinary Academy, 2016), unless one appreciates the particular im-
portance of the umami taste, the special texture of seaweeds, and the
aesthetics in the colours and forms of seaweed fronds themselves (cf.
Fig. 12) and in the presentation of seaweed dishes. To illustrate the
anticipation of the importance of texture (mouthfeel), it can be men-
tioned that whereas most Western cuisines only operate with less than
hundred different terms for aspects of mouthfeel (Mouritsen and
Styrbæk, 2017), the Japanese language has more than four times as
many. As an example, in Japan one would distinguish between
mouthfeel (kuchi atari), tonguefeel (shitazawari), and teethfeel (ha-
gotae).
The aroma of seaweeds generally derives from dimethyl sulphide
with notes of iodine and bromine as well as other volatile compounds
(Mouritsen et al., 2018b). Possible unpleasant odours and bitter tastes
can be mellowed by long-time storage like with Japanese kombu
(Mouritsen and Styrbæk, 2014) or by drying large brown kelps such as
Macrocystis pyrifera and Nereocystis luetkeana (Druehl, 2016) in sunshine
where the ultraviolet light leads to breakdown of the bitter-tasting
polyphenols (tannins). Seaweeds can also appeal to the ears, e.g., dried,
fried, or toasted seaweed can appear crispy, crackly, and crunchy.
Nevertheless, a key sensory appeal with some seaweeds is their ability
to impart umami taste, although only some of them contain large
amounts of free glutamate (Mouritsen, Duelund et al., 2018) that can
stimulate the umami receptors.
The potential for various seaweeds to elicit umami flavour was
pointed out by Kikunae Ikeda in 1909 (Ikeda, 2002) when he dis-
covered that Japanese kombu (Saccharina spp., in particular Saccharina
japonica), used in the famous Japanese soup stock dashi, contained very
large amounts of free glutamate, which in fact led him to propose
umami as a fifth basic taste. Different varieties of Japanese kombu have
different amounts of free glutamate (Blumenthal et al., 2009). Although
often claimed by many chefs, most other seaweeds have rather little
free glutamate and therefore little umami taste (Mouritsen, Duelund
et al., 2018). Notable exceptions include the red seaweed laver (Por-
phyra/Pyropia spp.) used to produce nori and the red seaweed dulse that
has been shown to provide excellent and taste umami-rich dashi
(Mouritsen et al., 2012).
Science meets phycogastronomy
Over the last couple of decades the interactions between chefs and
scientists have evolved and the scientific under-pinning of gastronomy
have grown stronger. This is most prominently reflected in new emer-
ging terms such as molecular gastronomy (Barham et al., 2010), mod-
ernist cuisine (Myhrvold, 2010), and gastrophysics (Mouritsen, 2012,
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International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science 14 (2018) 55–65
Fig. 13. Quinoa plankton is one of Spanish chef Angel León´s creations with
extruded (crisped) quinoa, squid, plankton (Tetraselmis chui) and Codium sp.
(Courtesy of Ángel León.).
Mouritsen and Styrbæk, 2017). This interaction has also had an impact
on algal cuisine. Since texture is so essential to the sensory perception
and acceptance of seaweeds as food, gastrophysics is particularly es-
sential to establish a scientific base for the algal cuisine. It is interesting
to note that one of the signatures of molecular gastronomy was its re-
discovery and innovative use of seaweed-derived hydrogels and gela-
tion agents (Youssef, 2013), in particular agar, carrageenan, and algi-
nate, compounds and principles well known in the chemical and food
industry but now raised to the Michelin-star level by creative chefs like
Ferran Adrià who refined spherification techniques.
Professional chefs up to the Michelin-star level have in recent years
developed an interest in seaweed, often in collaboration with scientists,
e.g., in a national Spanish project involving restaurants and chefs with a
total of around 50 Michelin stars (Pérez-Lloréns et al., 2016, 2018). One
of the participating chefs is Ángel León (alias the Chef of the Sea) from
the restaurant Aponiente, working in collaboration with scientists from
the University of Cádiz. An example of one of Ángel León's dishes with
plankton and seaweed is displayed in Fig. 13.
Other pioneering gastronomic movements have also embraced the
use of local seaweeds, e.g., the so-called New Nordic Cuisine that was
initiated in 2004 by a manifesto signed by twelve influential and
leading chefs from Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Greenland,
Iceland, and the Faroe Islands. This led also to the establishment of
Nordic Food Lab in Copenhagen in 2008 as a collaborative project
between chefs and scientists with the aim of seeking out deliciousness
in Nordic ingredients. In 2012 the laboratory began a study of the po-
tential of Nordic seaweeds for producing dashi (Mouritsen et al., 2012)
and found as mentioned above that dulse (Palmaria palmata) is rich in
free glutamate and that the umami taste can be used to produce dashi.
Chef Lars Williams at Nordic Food Lab used this scientific result to
create recipes for fresh cheese, bread, and ice cream (cf. Fig. 14) using
dulse for the provision of flavour.
A future perspective
The collaboration between chefs and scientists is important to help
solve some of the pressing problems in the world today regarding the
sustainability of our food supplies, climate change, and providing more,
better, and healthier food for a growing global population (UN, 2015).
This is particularly true when it comes to using our marine resources in
a more insightful and sustainable way. The fisheries are under pressure,
many fish species are over-fished, and at the same time environmental
factors put limits on the expansion of aquaculture for fish and shellfish
(SAPEA, 2017). Using microalgae and macroalgae (seaweed) for human
O.G. Mouritsen et al.
Fig. 14. A modern dish with dried dulse and ice cream infused with a dashi
made of dulse (Palmaria palmata). (Courtesy of Lars Williams.).
consumption may be part of the innovative solution to finding protein
sources that are not wasted by being passed through other trophic levels
(like domestic animals) before ending up on the dining table.
However, it is simply not enough to just put seaweeds on the table,
if people will not eat them. Even if seaweeds have been declared as
future food, health food, and brain food (Dhargalkar and Pereira,
2005), and even if seaweeds are promoted as edible, nutritious and
healthy (Cornish et al., 2015, 2017), and can even be prepared as tasty
food, it is difficult to change people's food preferences. This is where the
collaboration between chefs and scientists again comes into play. Sea-
weed dishes have to be tasty for people to start eating them and con-
tinue to do so on a repeat and regular basis (Mouritsen, 2017). This calls
for a new phycogastronomy.
This new movement has already started in many places, e.g., in
Australia, Spain, and some Nordic countries. Many of today's leading
chefs, often in collaboration with scientists, are experimenting with the
taste, texture, and colour of various seaweeds in familiar dishes as well
as in new gastronomic creations. The involvement of celebrity chefs
could lead to a trickle-down effect where ordinary people will start
using seaweeds in their home kitchen. Furthermore, programs like the
Danish national centre Taste for Life aimed at taste education for chil-
dren and young people using seaweeds as an example may be another
step in the right direction.
Acknowledgements
The work by OGM was supported by Nordea-fonden- via a centre
grant to the national Danish centre Taste for Life. JLPLL acknowledges
the support of the Junta de Andalucia Excellence Project Ealga (RNM-
1235).
Declarations of interest
None.
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