Seaweed, a Cook's Guide: Tempting Recipes for Seaweed and Sea Vegetables
Introduction  The mere mention of eating seaweed conjures up images of exotic or Asian cuisine for most of us. But seaweed dishes are nothing new or trendy. Countries in the Western world have been eating seaweed for years. From Wales to Iceland tothe United States and Canada, people haveincluded seaweeds in traditional recipes.So why is it that most of us would be hard-pressedto name even one variety of seaweed, let alone know how to whip up a delicious dish with it? Thetruth is, although seaweed has been eaten in North America and Europe for many hundreds of years, it has always played a minor role in people's diets as tasty flavorings, crunchy garnishes, salads and relishes to give interest and sparkle to everyday food.Our taste for seaweed (along with many other wildplants) took a downturn at some point, probably at the time of the industrial Revolution, when a cornucopia of manufactured foods was suddenly offered to ordinary folk. Presumably locally gathered seaweed started to seem tame in the face of all that seductive packaging and color printing.Now, happily, things are beginning to change and seaweed seems set to make a comeback, as food enthusiasts and restaurateurs become more adventurous with ingredients, interested in new tastes and texture, and curious about our neglected food traditions and heritage.Copyright © 2000 Fisher Books. All rights reserved.