"seaweed" news and stories

Photo: travelbex, Flickr.

Are you a sushi fact whiz? Test your food trivia smarts with this fun sushi trivia and facts quiz.

Food manufacturers are always looking for ways to make their foods appear more healthy, or to appeal to certain demographics. Gum Technology has a new egg replacement blend that they're hoping will catch on with bakeries.

The Coyote Brand Baker's 2 Egg Replacer is made with a blend is made from an "all natural" blend of sugarcane fiber, xanthan gum and guar gum. It is used at 20 percent of the weight of the egg removed, by adding it to water to make up the remaining 80 percent of egg weight. Gum Technology thinks that this product will be a great opportunity for vegan baking, as well as appeal to those with egg allergies.

On a similar note, there's another development in the works that may also have huge implications on the food industry. Seagreens, a Norwegian company, and researchers at Sheffield Hallam University are working on the viability of using seaweed granules to replace salt in processed food. The granules are made from cold water brown seaweed from the coastline of Norway. They're testing what effects the seaweed granules have on the quality and shelf life of products in which the salt has been replaced.

The feature story this week is on the Bay Area's small-batch coffee roasters.

Spring-time calls for salads made of young greens. Recipes are for: Parsley Salad with Green Onions, Cherry Tomatoes & Spicy Lime Dressing, Truffley Salad of Arugula, Buffalo Mozzarella, and Salad with the Herbs of Spring.

The Working Cook turns to cous cous, coming up with two recipes with three kinds of cous cous: Warm Salad with Couscous & Grilled Coriander Chicken and Sea Bass with Seared Asparagus, Little Pasta & "Beurre Blanc".

East to West lets out the seaweed secret with a recipe for Wakame Cucumber Salad.

On a Chef's Night In, Jamaican is comfort food: Jamaican Curry Chicken and Jamaican Rice & Peas

Taster's Choice this week tests multi-grain waffles, and Van's eggless, dairy-free waffles come out on top.

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Sushi has become so popular in the U.S. in the last few years that most people have at least some idea what nori seaweed is. It's that lovely green wrapper encasing your favorite maki rolls. For most Americans, this is the only place to use the delicate seaweed sheets. However, a group of chefs are creating a movement to use nori in a variety of new and different ways.

According to an article in this week's Dining Out section of the New York Times, a substantial number of chefs are thinking way outside the box when it comes to using nori. From an accent ingredient (nori stirred into black truffle risotto) to the main flavor (nori ice cream "sushi"), the seaweed sheets are appearing in more and more menus. Though low grade nori is generally used for sushi, high grade sheets are available and are generally preferred for these high end uses.

I must admit, I was a bit taken aback when I first read the article. But the more I thought about it the more intrigued I became. I always like to try new things and there are some pretty interesting things happening with nori seaweed out there today. So in the words of Chef Yasuda of Sushi Yasuda, "Please, eat".

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