Laver (seaweed)

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Laver and Toast

Laver is an edible seaweed that has high content of mineral salts, particularly iodine and iron. It is smooth and fine, often clinging to rocks. Laver is common around the west coast of Britain and east coast of Ireland along the Irish Sea. The two principal varieties are purple laver (Porphyra laciniata) and green laver (Ulva latissima). Another variety of sea spinach is called sloke (Porphyra umbilicalis). This tends to be a brownish colour, but boils down to a dark green pulp when prepared. The high iodine content gives the seaweed a distinctive flavour in common with olives and oysters.^[1]

1 Cultivation
2 Recipes
3 See also
4 References

[edit] Cultivation

Laver and sloke cultivation is typically associated with Wales, although similar farming methods are used in west coast of Scotland. Indeed, more laver and sloke is now produced in Scotland than in Wales.^{[citation needed]}

Laver is plucked from the rocks and given a preliminary rinse in clear water. The collected laver is repeatedly washed to remove sand and boiled for hours until it becomes a stiff green mush. In this state the laver can be preserved for about a week. Typically during the 18th century the mush was packed into a crock and sold as "Potted laver".

[edit] Recipes

Laver can be eaten cold as a salad with lamb or mutton. A simple preparation is to heat the laver and to add butter and the juice of a lemon or Seville orange. Laver can be heated and served with boiled bacon. When prepared with oatmeal, it is used to make the Welsh dish known as laverbread. Similarly, sloke can be prepared with cream, oatmeal and seasoning into sloke cakes.