This week on the Local Food Report, some amateur cooks get by with a little “kelp” from their friends and the results are pretty tasty.
How would you feel if you got invited to a kelp potluck? At Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, it’s a summer tradition.
“It’s so fun,” says Kali Horn. “Every year, people make the most amazing things that you wouldn’t expect.”
Horn has helped elevate the potluck over the last four years into a major social event. Her partner in that effort is fellow researcher Evie Fachon. Fachon says the Lindell Lab at WHOI generates an abundant supply of kelp every year.
“They have all these experimental plots along the coast of the Gulf of Maine, and all of the kelp that they're growing is food-grade,” Fachon says. “So, around this time of year, they go out and they do their harvests. They bring all of it back to WHOI, do all of this science with it, and then when it's done, they have all this kelp left over. So, we get to use it for potluck!”
Simply put, kelp is seaweed, with lots of types and textures. But you don’t exactly see it in the store, so Fachon says people can be a little intimidated.
“People don't know how to cook with it or work with it, but it really is like any other green,” Fachon says. “You can use it in a pesto, you can make it the star of a dish or you can kind of hide it in a dish. There's a lot of different ways that you can bring it in and no matter what you do with it, it is so good for you. You're getting that nutritional value.”
At this year’s potluck, Fachon made a kelp relish and put it in a potato salad. She also made kelp pesto pasta salad.
Horn says kelp has real potential as a product. Farming it requires no fertilizer, since it absorbs copious amounts of nutrients from the ocean.
“The project originally was looking at it for biofuel use--that was the original purpose, Horn says. “You can also use it for a bio-stimulant for crops, that's one of the emerging things right now.”
I asked how she would describe the culinary properties of kelp to cooks.
“I'd say it has like a briney, oceany flavor,” Horn says. “And you can use it similar to other greens. You can use it fresh, you can blanch it, you can dry it. When you dry it and grind it up, it's similar to like any herb or spice that you use.And it has that umami flavor.”
That word, “umami,” flies around a fair bit at this gathering. It’s that earthy, savory flavor that comes from things like soy sauce or mushrooms.
Researcher Mallory Kastner doubles down on “umami” by combining it with Japanese green tea and sticky rice flour. She made matcha kelp mochi cake.
“The matcha is the dominant flavor, but the kelp adds a bit of umami,” Kastner says.
You might be surprised at what kelp can add to desserts. These potluck chefs are serving up kelp chocolate chip cookies, kelp chocolate bark, and, from scientist Vanessa Haggans, a jar of kelp caramel sauce.
“Originally, I was hoping to also make ice cream and I thought that this could kind of be a topping,” Haggans says. “Honestly, I got really excited about the caramel piece. It's pretty easy to make. It seemed like a neat way to get the salted caramel. The salt is all coming from the kelp that was washed in filtered sea water and then dried.”
Scott Lindell runs the research lab that bears his name. You might say he’s WHOI’s kelp kingpin. He says this annual potluck helps bring people together.
“It's been a great cross-fertilization of the older scientists coming to learn from the younger scientists about food,” Lindell says. “It’s been a fantastic thing.”
WHOI recipes and ideas for how to use kelp in cooking: https://www2.whoi.edu/site/lindell-lab/recipes-more/
