LCBO Food & Drink Early Summer 2019

FLAVOURS VARIATIONS ON SEAWEED

RISING TIDE Surging back onto trendy ingredients lists, seaweed’s many forms add depth of flavour and a whiff of the sea to our tables.

Isle of Harris ( LCBO 516617, 700 mL, $88.45) is a premium gin from Scotland that tastes of juniper and citrus with an undercurrent of maritime flavour from sugar kelp. Here it’s mixed with dry vermouth and a pinch of salt for a stingingly cold seaside Martini. If you can find them, anchovy-stu ed olives from Spain will amp up the oceanic theme.

Nori Nori is a fast-growing algae farmed in waters all over Japan. It’s shredded, pressed and dried into paper-thin sheets used mostly for sushi. Cut into thin strips, kizami nori is sprinkled over noodles and rice, and in Korea, nori is roasted with sesame oil and salt for a popular snack. Dulse Native to the northern coasts of the Atlantic and Pacific, this reddish-purple seaweed is prized for its bacon-like flavour. Dried, it’s eaten out of hand as a snack in Nova Scotia, and in Ireland it’s baked into soda bread. Try mix- ing dulse flakes into compound butter for grilled seafood. Kombu Kombu is a type of kelp sold in dried rectangles that look like wrinkled green paper. It is primarily used to flavour dashi, the basic stock of Japanese cuisine. In 1908, a sci- entist discovered umami when he figured out that kombu is rich in glutamic acid, the compound responsible for the savoury fifth taste. Arame Arame is a type of kelp found mostly in the waters around Japan. It’s sold dried in thin brown strands and only takes minutes to rehydrate. Arame’s mild flavour and toothsome texture make it a natural in vegetable or noodle salads. Wakame Popular in soups and salads, wakame fronds have a sweet flavour and a tender, slippery texture similar to wilted spinach. The ubiquitous seaweed salad served at sushi restaurants is made from wakame stems and branches, though the verdant fluorescence comes from food dye.

TIDE POOL recipe on page 130

SEA PLUS seasonings

Granulated kelp or dulse is used as a salt substitute and flavour enhancer—try shaking it on popcorn.

Furikake is a dried Japanese condiment used on soups, rice and poke.

And shichimi toga- rashi is a Japanese spice blend that gets a boost of umami from seaweed.

FURIKAKE: @ISTOCK.COM/VBACARIN; SHICHIMI TOGARASHI: MASA44/SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

FOOD & DRI NK EARLY SUMMER