Anyone good on their seaweed ID?

[BILLy]

Some pics and vids I took last week on the beach, can anyone help please with the ID of each?
Cheers
Bill

First two pics are the same seaweed,


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[crosslandkelly]

I think that is Kelp.

 

[redneck]

Top one is one of the laminarias (possibly digitata or hyperborea)
Second one is laminaria saccharina
Third one is fucus serratus

 

[redneck]

Changed my mind on the first one.. I should have looked at the stipe more closely it's actually saccorhiza polyschides

 

[Janne]

Do they taste good?

 

[Brynglas]

I agee with redneck, top one is a Laminaria, either digitata (Oarweed) or hyperborea (Forest Kelp), the second one is Sugar Kelp, now known as Saccharina latissima and the third is Serrated wrack.
All edible, the top two are particularly good to eat.


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[BILLy]

Wow, great, thanks very much for the ID all, I'll start checking out how one would process them for eating now, 👍 thanks again
Bill


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[Brynglas]

Lots of options, a good wash and steam/ stir fry is my preference with most seaweeds. Or dry and grind for use as a seasoning/ condiment.
Have a look at Fiona Bird's books for inspiration, she has some great seaweed recipes.

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[Toddy]

The stems of the first one used to be chewed by kids just like they would a stalk of rhubarb It gets sweeter somehow the longer you chew it. I didn't know the Latin names for them, but Brynglas' posts naming them properly gives a hint to the sweetness
It's not sugary sugary sweetness, it's just a not bitter, not sour, not unpleasant stuff. Satisfying though when your teeth itch. I think the last time I chewed it my second back teeth were coming in, and that was most certainly not yesterday

I can imagine how folks would react now to kids wandering around chewing stalks of seaweed though; it'd be comments about it being dirty, and you don't know where that's been, just like the rain!

As far as I know, and it'd be good to have it confirmed, there are no poisonous seaweeds growing around our coasts….provided the water isn't polluted.
Not a lot of calories, but they're handy as gelling and firming agents, add an unami type seasoning, and can be very palatable cooked too.

M

 

[Brynglas]

No toxic seaweeds that I know of in the UK, some more palatable and digestible than others though. Some are a fantastic vegetable in their own right. I grew up in West Wales so Laver (Nori in Japan) was a regular. I spend a lot of time in the West of Scotland and regularly collect seaweed to add to meals. This week's favourite was Velvet Horn, very nutritious and tasty.
There are some very good foraging and recipe books out there. Fiona Bird is very good on the subject.

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[Toddy]

Fiona has written a fair number of interesting books

Is it this one that you mean ?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Books/Seaweed-Kitchen-Coastline-English/1909248398

M

 

[Brynglas]

Yes, that's excellent fir recipes, despite the lack of pictures. Her book The Foragers Kitchen is also good.

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[redneck]

There is one poisonous seaweed around our coasts which is a variety of desmarestia.. not fatal but high in sulphuric acid (i think) that causes severe stomach upsets, however it is a deep water variety and easily identified.

 

[Toddy]

Any chance of a link to that please ? I would really like to fix the image in my mind.

M

 

[redneck]

https://soundwaterstewards.org/ezidweb/seaweeds/Desmarestiaaculeata.htm


https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desmarestia_viridis

 

[Toddy]

Thank you

M

 

[baggins]

Useful link. I also was under the impression there were no toxic seaweeds around the uk. Thanks for the info.
i really like sea lettuce, dr toasted on the top of the wood burner, its delicious and is great dried and flaked and added to flat breads.
Pepper dulce is tasty to.

 

[Toddy]

I've been reading.

"All Desmarestia species have a very acid cell sap and will spoil other seaweeds
if collected in the same bag " is the only really negative comment that I can find about it. It seems to be a protective thing agin grazing among the kelp forest type environments.

Not common here, but worth minding, iimmc ?

Nice, plain and clear read about the seaweeds, their zones and habitats, etc., here..

http://fsj.field-studies-council.org/media/2775233/vol51_125a.pdf

M