Norway women bring seaweed to culinary heights in Europe

The company picks 10 different kinds of seaweed.

By “late May, I’m actually sweating in my suit”.

One time, she said, “I took my glove off and the steam was just rising up”.

“It’s physically hard but at the same time it’s very meditative, or therapeutic in a way, to harvest,” she says.

‘Delicate’

Truffle seaweed, winged kelp, nori, dulse, sugar kelp, oarweed kelp: the pair focus on about 10 types of seaweed, long eaten in Japan and increasingly popular in Europe for their nutritional qualities.

The seaweed is sold locally or shipped to gourmet restaurants in Norway and the rest of Europe.

The two women organize workshops to teach chefs about the different varieties and the qualities of each type.

“Seaweeds are like vegetables, they have their own texture, taste and colors,” says Singer.

She said it was a “huge surprise” how many European chefs had little or no knowledge of the different flavors and ways of preparing seaweed.

For enthusiasts, seaweed has as much variety as vegetables.

The company hand-picks 11 tonnes of seaweed a year.

The duo has worked with Japanese chefs “who know exactly what to do, you don’t have to tell them anything”.

“It’s just so natural for them. It’s like giving a piece of fish to a North Norwegian,” says Singer.

Some 20 kilometers (12 miles) away, chef Josh Wing has been serving the pair’s products in his high-end restaurant Hattvika Lodge for about five years.

He is well-versed and does not need to take part in their workshops anymore.

Wing is particularly fond of the dulse, a “very delicate purple seaweed”, which he serves with local fish dishes or bread.

It “can provide a physical texture in a dish that you can’t get from other products”, he tells AFP.

To ensure that their business is sustainable, Eriksen and Singer have mapped and dated their harvest sites, as well as the volumes of each species, for the past four years.

“Our results show that the regrowth in recently harvested patches is actually faster than anticipated, almost as if a harvest actually stimulates growth,” says Singer.

© 2024 AFP

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Norway women bring seaweed to culinary heights in Europe (2024, April 23)
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