Moules aux Algues
Our daily experimentation of cooking with kelp, produced a dish which demanded a French name. This is mussels in harmonious partnership with kelp. The kelp brings to the briny, slightly sweet taste of the mussels its own savoury complexities.
Recipe/Method- Serves 2:
Take a good handful of dehydrated shredded kelp and rehydrate in 2.5 cups of boiling water. Add half a med-hot chilli, diced and leave to simmer for 10 mins. Rehydration will absorb approx. 1.5 cups of liquid and produces the most wonderful umami stock
In a stockpot, fry 2 diced spring onions in a good splash of olive oil for 2 mins. Add 2 cloves of chopped garlic for further 3 minutes. Add 1 cup of chopped tomatoes and sweat all 3 ingredients for 2-3 mins til soft and translucent. Add the hydrated shredded kelp, the remaining kelp stock and a kilo of clean mussels. Mix well. Over a medium heat, steam ‘til the mussels open. Add a knob of butter for extra unctuousness. Et voila: mussels + kelp, a fine supper dish or hearty lunch served with crusty bread. Delectable.
© Aqua Botanika
Today is World Reef Day
Even the anchors are regenerative. 12 weeks ago 20 ARC Reef Cubes® were installed on our Torbay kelp farm. Already the plastic free, low carbon Reef Cubes® have had a positive impact on the marine environment of our seaweed farm. Photographs and videos sent from our Friends at ARC Marine show these porous cubes have swiftly become imbedded with barnacles and marine plants, providing an environment for crabs, fish and lobsters. The biodiversity at Aqua Botanika is flourishing! Thank you Arc Marine, Biome Algae, Marine Farm Services and TMS for your part in making this happen.
Book launch: The Seaweed Revolution
“You don’t need land, you don’t need to feed it and guess what…it doesn’t need water!”. Vincent Doumeizel, The Seaweed Revolution
Home to 70 million specimens of mammals, birds, rocks, plants, fish, fossils, and algae - the Natural History Museum in London was an ideal site for the book launch of Vincent Doumeizel’s The Seaweed Revolution. A charismatic and persuasive proponent of the value of seaweed for the future of humankind, Doumeizel is also senior advisor on the oceans to the UN Global Compact and director of the Food Programme at Lloyd’s Register Foundation.
He argues for natural solutions to global problems, solutions that inspire hope for future generations, and solutions that are grounded in science. For Doumeizel the story of seaweed - ‘the mother of the sea’- foregrounds its major role in carbon capture, in ocean regeneration, as a nutritious and inexpensive human and animal food source, an organic fertiliser, a nutrient-rich ingredient in medicines and cosmetics, a key ingredient in food packaging and plastic substitute, and for a host of green and safe new jobs.
Even the book cover was made of seaweed, courtesy of Notpla - whose strapline is "We make packaging disappear." The launch was well attended by an enthusiastic audience, with a great many people linked in some way to this burgeoning new industry. Aqua Botanika staff report that the intricate hors d’oeuvres laced with seaweed were delicious and they were entertained by the lively sea shanty choir. It seems that the revolution has begun on a high note!
Podcast episode: https://open.spotify.com/show/3v5wXvc0TIVYT7uYpo4uIJ?si=cYjWhpi3RDK0BvAY_I0vTg