Foraging for seaweed on a  Cork beach -  here's what I learned...

Growing up by the coast, my summers were spent on the beach, exploring, rock climbing, and swimming.

During these days of great adventure, I had one nemesis: seaweed. Its bipolar identity was either wet and slimy, threatening to make me fall while climbing rocks, or dry and crispy, its sharp edges an unpleasant reminder to steer clear.

Fast forward 30-odd years, and I still didn’t know anything about seaweed and continued to view it with utter disdain. An invitation from the Climate Ambassador programme to attend a seaweed foraging event at Fountainstown Beach gave me the nudge I needed to find out more.

In typical Irish fashion, the day was mercurial, starting sunny with a blast of torrential rain, followed by a brief reprieve. Luckily, the group’s window of exploring all the Irish Atlantic has to offer fell during this dry window of opportunity. Decked out in my mum’s wellies and armed with sharp scissors, I was ready for anything.

Daithí Brooks, Climate Action Officer for the Climate Ambassador Programme, provided a warm welcome and opened the session by explaining the significant role the ocean plays in stabilising our climate.

More than 90% of the excess heat we generate is absorbed by the oceans and 25% of all carbon dioxide emissions. But all this comes at a significant cost, with ice melting, sea-level rise, marine heat waves, and ocean acidification. 

He highlighted the important role that seaweed forests play as nurseries for countless marine species and in protecting our coasts from the worst effects of storms.

Samuel Arnold Keane, our foraging leader, has a long history of sourcing food sustainably. Growing up near the French Alps, foraging for mushrooms, introduced him to this world of nature’s abundant bounty. He opens our eyes to the crucial role of seaweed in ing marine life and aquatic ecosystems by providing food and shelter and how kelp forests can sequester more carbon than trees. Keane has a poetic way with words that belies his creative side, and nature is not only a source of food but also his muse as a singer-songwriter and illustrator.

As the group discussed foraging experiences, we came to realise that we are all foragers of the land-picking blackberries, mushrooms, and crab apples, making rosehip syrup and elderflower cordial, yet, despite our island location, we had not connected with what our coastlines have to offer. Our inheritance of generational local wisdom, including seaweed foraging, got marooned.

Over the course of three hours, Samuel engages our palettes with a smorgasbord of seaweeds and advises us on how to prepare, cook and store seaweed at home. 

I leave with a bag of treasure, including gutweed, the green stringy seaweed foe from my past. Samuel advises frying it in butter, and it’s hard to argue with his culinary advice. Everything tastes excellent in butter; maybe even gutweed could? One green fry up later, I am pleasantly surprised by the taste and texture of this unexpected culinary delight. It crisps up well in the pan, with each frond contributing to its mouthfeel, and has a spinach-like umami flavour.

Next, I make sugar kelp crisps, cutting them into triangles and baking them until crunchy. Now, they will not rival Taytos, but they have great texture and are easy to prepare. Samuel mentions using some as pasta or noodle replacements, in pestos, kimchi, vegan jerky, as a thickener, and to flavour chowder.

Carrageen moss is described as a shy seaweed, and sure enough, I find it bashfully hiding under other bigger seaweed. It is reputed to have medicinal qualities and acts as an expectorant that helps clear phlegm from the lungs. The group enjoy flavourful carrageen moss tea at the end of this productive foraging session. While it is an acquired taste, it is worth developing, as seaweed is jam-packed with nutrients.

Samuel reminds us that the food we grow is not as nutritious as it once was due to the depletion of soil quality. Seaweed does not have this issue, as the sea acts as its soil, providing a wealth of minerals, including iodine, that help health.

While foraging in the past has been about survival, today, it is about connecting at a time of disconnect. It is a holdfast to our heritage, nature and others on a sustainability journey.

Samuel strongly emphasises the importance of taking by hand only what we need, leaving at least a third of the seaweed plant to ensure its continuance, in stark contrast to mechanical harvesting, which rips the holdfast, destroying future growth and an ecosystem in the process.

Our future depends on us working with nature, and learning sustainable values through foraging is a terrific place to start!

The Climate Ambassador programme empowers people to be climate leaders in their communities. Registrations will be opening for 2025 Climate Ambassadors in early September. Learn more about the Climate Ambassador programme here: https://climateambassador.ie/ 

Learn more about Samuel: https://www.instagram.com/samyelyel/