Gathering Kelp 

The slimy, free beach vegetable and why you should gather it

Kelp is one of the most common types of seaweed and appears all around the coast of Britain, Iceland, South Africa, Australia, and most of the west coast of both North and South America, as well as various other small patches around the world.

If you live in Britain and have ever been to the beach then this is most likely the seaweed you’ve seen clinging to rocks and harbour walls. Covered in small pockets of air and having a deep green color, this healthy sea vegetable may be free and readily available, but it’s an acquired taste and not a regular to be seen on the dinner table for most people.

It is perfectly legal to gather seaweed from UK waters as long as it’s not rooted to anything, such as floating or washed-up seaweed. If the plant is attached to something then according to UK law you will need to get the landowner’s permission, but what this means on a public beach when it’s several meters out to sea isn’t clear. This is one of those wild foods that have ambiguous laws on gathering, but also one that not a single person is ever likely to care about.

What is Kelp?

Kelp is a seaweed that comes in over 30 different types which belong to the Laminariales family. It normally grows in huge underwater kelp forests but is known to often grow on the beach when it has some kind of rock or base to anchor itself to.

The type of Kelp found in the huge underwater forests, such as the 5800 square kilometer forest off the coast of Norway, is normally a different type than the kelp found around the coastline of Britain, but fortunately, there are no poisonous variations of this seaweed species.

How to gather it

 This may seem very straight forward but the trick is to not gather any that the leaves have grown considerably bigger than the average size. They should be thought of as vegetables and the bigger the leaves get, the tougher they become. The leaves and stems can be ripped by hand on the smaller plants, but become very fibrous and rubbery when bigger and can be extremely difficult to tear, but a pair of scissors or a small knife will do the job nicely.

How to cook kelp

 Treat Kelp like you would any other kind of dark green leaf vegetable, like cabbage for example. There is one main thing to watch out for when cooking kelp, and that’s its sodium alginate content. This may not mean anything yet but this compound occurs naturally within many types of seaweed in very high quantities, and it makes one of the best natural thickeners in the world.

It’s safe to eat, but the problem is it thickens up the water a little too much. Sometimes when cooking kelp it will cause the water to get so thick that it turns into a runny wallpaper paste consistency. This means it’s great to add a little bit to a soup or stew to thicken it up, but adding it in larger quantities will see your otherwise tasty dish turn into a goo-fest.

To remove the Sodium Alginate, simply boil the leaves of your seaweed for as long as you would cabbage, maybe 15 to 20 minutes, but stir well throughout cooking to release as much as possible. When the water gets too thick, drain off the thicker goo water, add more boiling water, and continue to cook as normal, doing another water change if necessary.

You can eat this plant raw, as the thickener is in no way poisonous, in fact, it’s often used as a thickener in ice cream and various types of sauces. If you do choose to try this plant raw I do warn you, it’s not nice. It’s like eating slimy, chewy, raw salted sprouts.

A warning about kelp

You may have heard this seaweed called a “superfood” at some point, as it’s often used within supplements for its high levels of minerals and vitamins, and even though it’s completely safe to eat, it contains very high levels of Iodine.

Eating it occasionally will do nothing to harm you, and it’s even recommended by various health professionals as part of a diet. Iodine is good for the thyroid gland and helps metabolism, but consuming excessive amounts of iodine can overwork the thyroid gland can cause various thyroid-related conditions, so if you happen to like eating this plant, don’t go over the top.