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Those Curious and Delicious Seaweeds. A Fascinating Voyage from Biology to Gastronomy.
About the book
The "blue planet", Earth, with three quarters of its surface covered by oceans and seas, remains unexplored and undiscovered. This circumstance, leading to myths and legends, has relegated many marine species to undeserved exclusion, disregard or even contempt. A clear example of this is the seaweeds-"sea vegetables", as they are called in the media for their similarity to their land counterparts-, a marine flora of great variety in size, shape and colour, with little awareness of their applications dating back to the dawn of civilization. They have been used in the East mainly as medicines and food, and have been venerated there for millennia. In the West, on the other hand, they have been reviled for their historical link to times of hunger and hardship, a view that fortunately has been changing in recent times. They are now on the menu in many restaurants and homes, thanks to their organoleptic and nutritional properties. The use of seaweeds for food is the main axis around which the different chapters in this book revolve and interlock. They encompass key questions on biology and ecology (chapter 1); historical (ethnologic) aspects of consumption (chapter 2); phycocolloids (chapter 3); harvesting and cultivation techniques (chapter 4); nutritional aspects (chapter 5), forms of marketing and consumption (chapter 6); the predominant species consumed in Spain and around the world (chapter 7); and basic topics relating to sense perception and gastronomy (chapter 8) that will help us enjoy the 36 recipes (true works of art) contributed by a most significant line-up of the best chefs in Spain (chapter 9): Andoni Luis Aduriz, Juan Mari Arzak, Eneko Atxa, Martín Berasategui, Quique Dacosta, Rodrigo de la Calle, Dani García, Diego Guerrero, Ángel León, Nacho Manzano, Francis Paniego, Joan Roca, Paco Roncero, Carme Ruscalleda, Mario Sandoval, Ricardo Sanz and Pedro Subijana. This last chapter is undoubtedly the perfect port of call at which our book can finally lay anchor
The whole of this veritable "marine logbook" is accompanied by numerous photographs, original illustrations and curious facts that will entertain us on our voyage through the pages of our journal. It is targeted at a very broad audience, not only those who possess some prior knowledge of the subject, but those who want to take an initial plunge into Poseidon's fascinating universe and obtain their first taste of his marine garden.
The book originally appeared as: ¿Las algas se comen? Un periplo por la biología, la historia, las curiosidades y la gastronomía (2016). This is the new and improved, translated and revised edition, with foreword by Dr. O. G. Mouritsen and Dr. A. Critchley. In its original format, the book went on to win many well-deserved awards and critical acclaim:
" "Best in the World" in the category of Nutrition & Health Institutions at the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards 2017.
" First prize in the category of "outreach publications" in Spain's XXth National University Publishing Awards 2016.
About the authors
The authorship of this book brings together academics and researchers from the Institute for Marine Research (INMAR) of the University of Cadiz and a renowned chef from Cádiz itself. These researchers have lectured over the course of the last 25 years on a variety subjects related to Ecology and Marine Botany. They have lengthy and widely acknowledged research experience in the ecology and physiology of marine plants: not only they have they published numerous scientific papers and books, they have also led competitive research projects in these fields, at a regional, national, and even European level. The participation of the Chef of the Sea, with more than 20 years experience in the kitchen, his 3 +1 Michelin stars, his National Gastronomy and European Chef of the Year (2017) awards, together with a culinary philosophy in which the sea and its inhabitants are the emblems of his cuisine, neatly rounds off the interdisciplinary vision of this book. Just as the recipes in this work perfectly harmonize the different ingredients in order to produce genuine works of art, the knowledge and interests of all its authors have been carefully blended in order to "serve up" this tasty guide and help pilot our galley through hitherto uncharted waters.
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