Human diet has been enriched with seafood 160.000 ago.This is approximately the time that people dwelled on the seashores and since then human beings have been linked to the sea, from which they take life-valuable ingredients.
Almost every culture that had access to the sea, used throughout the centuries sea vegetation as food.Japan and many other Αsian countries are known for the consumption of seaweed, while even the Vikings and the Gaels used to eat dried seaweed. Τhe Hawaiians and the Polynesians caltivated them in <<farms>>,while, as Plato mentions, the Ancient Greeks ate seaweed the way it was.
The first thing that comes to our mind when we hear the word seaweed is the sushi. Actually, seaweed is used more and more in the cuisines during the recent years.
Βesides sushi, those sea vegetables can be used for a wide range of other dishes: soups, salads, snacks, fried food….
The seaweed based, Kelp caviar exists as well – in a very lower price in comparison to the fish caviar!
Many of the edible seaweed varities are taken from the nature,while others are cultivated.
Τheir flavor ranges from soft and sweetish to quite salty.One variery of them, when we cook it in the pan, gets a bacon flavor!
Τhey can be eaten uncooked, steaming, fried or dried in flakes or powder, while the last ones can be also consumed with the liquid addition, in order to get their initial texture.
When they are dried, they add flavour and nutritiotal value in seasoning mixtures, energy smoothies , salad dressing, vegetable dip , natural fresh juices, fried food, soups and one-pot meals.
By using the seaweed powder,you can season the porridge,the greek style scrambled eggs or the avocado and add the seaweed flakes in order to replace the salt or the flavour cubes, whenever you think it is necessary.
Many of them can be cooked in the fryer and become a crispy snack or garnish, while some of them can become a cream that is served as an accompaniment.
They can also be used as an accompaniment (unsurpising!) for fish and every kind of seafood, while they are also included in the vegeterian and vegan diet.
The way that they are cooked depends on the kind of seaweed and their usage in the recipe.
For example,the dried varieties are more suitable for homemade broths with strong flavour, while the ones that have not such a strong flavour and are eaten fresh are more suitable for salads, or slightly steamed as an accompaniment.
It is preferable for the easily broken varieties to be slightly cooked or to be eaten uncooked, while some other varieties with a thick foliage should be slowly boiled for an hour or even more, in order to have their best flavour and texture.
Sea is an important source of nutritional elements. Due to the overcultivation, earth’s terrain has been reduced in nutrinitional elements and as those plants are as rich in those elements as the land that they have been cultivated, they have little nutritional value when they are served to us, in comparison to what our grandparents used to eat, not mentioning our earliest ancestors.
Sea vegetables are the ocean’s superfoods.They are high in vitamins, such as A, carotenoid, vitamins B, C and E, all necessary for our health, included the health of our eyes.
A research that conducted in 2014 suggested that specific varities of seaweed are a possible vegetable source of biologically-active B12 vitamin.
Also, they provide us with important metals like calcium,iron, iodine, magnesium and zinc. They consist a great source of vegetable proteins,fibres and omega-fatty acids and they contain a number of unique photochemicals that do not exist in the land-cultivated plants.
Μany surveys have shown that seaweed are promising hormonal balance and stabilisation of the blood sugar levels, they have antiviral and anti-inflammatory properties and they contribute to the proper fuction of the heart and the kidney.
Βy consuming seaweed we also ingest polysaccharides such as the alginate, the carrageen and the agar. They are gelatinous substances that are also known as hydrocolloid. Those substances have acquired a great commerial importance, as masses of them are used in the food production..
The majority of the edible seaweed comes from the sea while the majority of the freshwater seaweed are toxic. A number of seaweed contain acids that irritate the gastrointestinal tract, while some others function as laxatives and balance out the catalysts in our body.
There are thousands of edible seaweed, so that variety will never be a problem.So, go wild! Try all of them. Wild, cultivated, fresh, cooked or dried.
You have definitely heard saying that in the future we will be depending on insects for our food, but we think that the future belongs to the seaweed because they are not only the most popular but also the most delicious!
Our seaweed products:
You can find different seaweed products in the category Seafood.
You can also have a look at our category Ethnic seasoning.