Since the dawn of humanity, parents have struggled to get their children to eat healthy food. Some are lucky and sire children who enjoy the taste of broccoli and kale. Then there were the others. The “picky eaters.” The ones you had to trick into eating something that was good for them. Unfortunately for my parents, I was one of the latter. If it was green, I hated it. It didn’t matter if it was covered in cheese or butter, I could always taste that horrid “green” flavor.
As I grew into a slightly less (but still somewhat) picky adult, I actually began to lament my particular tastes. I would often look at other people’s plates with all the color and vibrancy a plate full of healthy vegetables could muster and long for the same experience. Beyond the inconvenience, I also knew (because I’m an adult!) that these foods were good for me. I needed to get these nutrients somehow, and as I don’t particularly like taking supplements, I would much prefer to get them the natural way.
Well here comes science to my rescue. Beautiful, reliable science. Researchers at Oregon State University have developed a strain of an edible seaweed called dulse (pronounced like “pulse”). This particular strain has twice the nutrients of the ever-present health craze super food kale. Plus, as an added bonus, it tastes like bacon! Who doesn’t like bacon?
Now, not many people have eaten this stuff fresh before these new developments. Prior to this, well, let’s just call it food science magic, dulse was mostly dried and ground into powders for health drinks. No one was eating a dulse salad. But that is sure to change thanks to the good people at Oregon State. Via an official OSU statement:
“There hasn’t been a lot of interest in using it in a fresh form. But this stuff is pretty amazing,” said chief researcher Chris Langdon. “When you fry it, which I have done, it tastes like bacon, not seaweed. And it’s a pretty strong bacon flavor.”
So maybe there’s hope for my people. I am actually excited to try seaweed. There’s currently no real infrastructure to grow vast amounts of dulse, but I’m sure that will change once the news spreads. The dulse boom is right on the horizon, and I, for one, am excitedly awaiting this new dawn.
