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Early Europeans ate seaweed for thousands of years

smithsonianmag.com

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Re: Early Europeans ate seaweed for thousands of years

#121

Post by AlecSchueler »

youngNed wrote: post #82
AlecSchueler wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Haha, I clicked on comment to be the token Northern Irishman bringing this up, but you beat me to it! I didn't know seaweed wasn't a common food until I moved to the Netherlands and started enquiring about the local seaweed, only to be met with blank looks or people pointing me to the sushi nori at Albert Heijn. I've been here for years and I still don't understand how such a seafaring nation with such an intimate co…

I have only ever eaten it dried, but last time I was in Portstewart I saw someone collecting it fresh, and got talking to him. It tastes a LOT nicer fresh. But that's not saying a lot, I mean it still tastes like salty rubber. As for the content below, that it tastes like bacon?? I mean, yeeeeeaaaaaahhh? In the same way that a used condom might taste of bacon?

Wasn't expecting to see Portstewart on Hacker News today but here we go!

Aye, I've only had the fresh stuff myself as a child. My aunties would rent a caravan down on the Strangford coast and we would go down to get it ourselves, and we'd pick mollusks from the rocks and other things of that nature. Some great memories there, thank you for bringing them to the fore.

Salty rubber is right. I don't actually like the stuff myself but I still enjoy eating it somehow! The iodine flavour is always the main thing for me, but I can see the appeal for sure.

Re: Early Europeans ate seaweed for thousands of years

#122

Post by nomel »

h2odragon wrote: post #95
anigbrowl wrote: post #88

Lots of people eat seaweed without even knowing it; carrageenan, an ingredient derived from seaweed, is used as a filler in many food products.

carrageenan causes me some digestive distress; its amazing how many things its in. There's a couple ice cream brands without it, for example, but you'd better check ingredients anyway.

Causes one person I know anaphylaxis. It appears to be a pseudo latex allergy: https://www.jacionline.org/article/S0091-6749(95)70091-9/pdf

Re: Early Europeans ate seaweed for thousands of years

#123

Post by AlecSchueler »

riedel wrote: post #111
AlecSchueler wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Haha, I clicked on comment to be the token Northern Irishman bringing this up, but you beat me to it! I didn't know seaweed wasn't a common food until I moved to the Netherlands and started enquiring about the local seaweed, only to be met with blank looks or people pointing me to the sushi nori at Albert Heijn. I've been here for years and I still don't understand how such a seafaring nation with such an intimate co…

Typically you get Salicornia in the Netherlands which is not strictly seaweed but I guess somewhat comparible (aquatic plants is I guess what they call it in the article)

Ah yes samphire! Zeekreel. Funny enough it's something I've seen growing at home in Ireland but never thought it was something I could be eating. I'll check that out for sure, thank you.

Re: Early Europeans ate seaweed for thousands of years

#124

Post by huron »

tecleandor wrote: post #25
HeckFeck wrote: post #17

Some of us still do! In Northern Ireland, we have a lesser-known seaweed dish called Dulce. https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20180522-the-renaissance-... It's tricky to find it fresh, you usually only get it in small greengrocers or at the Auld Lammas fair. Used to be quite cheap for a bag. Very salty but quite edible and said to be nutrient-dense.

Kind of funny it's salty but it's called dulce/dulse (Spanish for 'sweet'). I'd love to know the pronunciation for 'Duileasg'

West coast of Clare we call it Dilisk. Pronounced, more or less, dilishk.

Re: Early Europeans ate seaweed for thousands of years

#125

Post by bpicolo »

winter_blue wrote: post #100

Seaweed is one of those incredibly delicious items[1] that for some strange reason isn't more popular. I'd love it if it became more common, and more cuisines (outside Japan) incorporated it into their existing dishes. I'm imagining like an Indian curry with seaweed mixed in, or an Italian pasta with seaweed mixed in (in addition to existing ingredients)..... [1] if you buy it from a good brand, so YMMV.

> in Italian pasta with seaweed mixed

All the rage at Italian/Japanese fusion joints (and honestly in Japan too - Japan loves pasta)

Re: Early Europeans ate seaweed for thousands of years

#126

Post by robocat »

pvaldes wrote: post #118

Is a fact that early Europeans ate sea urchins. We still do the same. Therefore, early Europeans ate also the many different red, brown, and green algae that came in each urchin stomach. This predigested small pieces is what gives the urchins its special flavor. You can't ate one, and not the other. This does not mean that they would eat directly the same algae raw. They are a cocktail of chemicals. not easy to eat i…

An easy thing for the scientists to test - check the dental plaque of people that eat a lot of Urchins e.g. Kina are popular with some people in New Zealand.

Re: Early Europeans ate seaweed for thousands of years

#127

Post by tejohnso »

HeckFeck wrote: post #17

Some of us still do! In Northern Ireland, we have a lesser-known seaweed dish called Dulce. https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20180522-the-renaissance-... It's tricky to find it fresh, you usually only get it in small greengrocers or at the Auld Lammas fair. Used to be quite cheap for a bag. Very salty but quite edible and said to be nutrient-dense.

Dulse here.

Not uncommon in Canada, especially eastern coast.

You can find it in grocery stores sometimes. Price has nearly doubled in the last few years.

https://www.amazon.ca/stores/page/6A642280-AC30-4571-9ECB-08...

Re: Early Europeans ate seaweed for thousands of years

#129

Post by vanderZwan »

pvaldes wrote: post #118

Is a fact that early Europeans ate sea urchins. We still do the same. Therefore, early Europeans ate also the many different red, brown, and green algae that came in each urchin stomach. This predigested small pieces is what gives the urchins its special flavor. You can't ate one, and not the other. This does not mean that they would eat directly the same algae raw. They are a cocktail of chemicals. not easy to eat i…

First, the article specifically says they do not know how the seaweed was prepared, so I'm not sure where the "eating it raw" is coming from.

Second, we also still eat seaweed, as many other comments here point out (most of the comments are from the British Isles, so I'll add one that is also available in the Netherlands, where I'm from: salicorna, or "zeekraal"). I'd also like to note that I have never heard of any dish involving sea urchins. I'm sure they exist in the cuisine that you are familiar with, but I'm just mentioning this to point out that you do not speak for the culture of the entire European continent.

With that in mind, I find it rather odd to conclude that it is more likely that the measured seaweed molecules in teeth of ancient humans came from sea urchin stomachs than from seaweed directly. It does not pass Ockham's Razor.

Re: Early Europeans ate seaweed for thousands of years

#130

Post by ahzhou »

winter_blue wrote: post #100

Seaweed is one of those incredibly delicious items[1] that for some strange reason isn't more popular. I'd love it if it became more common, and more cuisines (outside Japan) incorporated it into their existing dishes. I'm imagining like an Indian curry with seaweed mixed in, or an Italian pasta with seaweed mixed in (in addition to existing ingredients)..... [1] if you buy it from a good brand, so YMMV.

It’s incredibly common in every East Asian coastal cuisine.

If you live near the coast, you can easily forage your own too.

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