In the Kitchen with Rebecca Gilbert
Rebecca Gilbert shares this recipe from her book Weedy Wisdom for the Curious Forager, Common Wild Plants to Nourish Your Body and Soul. There are two versions of the recipe. The first is a wilder and more complex version, followed by a simpler one.
Historical Seaweed Cakes
This recipe is based on an ancient dish from the Stone Age that is still popular in Wales. Originally cooked on the bakestone, today it is usually made on a cast iron pan or electric griddle.
Gather wild oats and other edible seeds, or use oatmeal (not the quick-cooking kind). Toast on the bakestone, in a pan, or the oven. Stir often. The oats should dry out and just begin to brown. Cool and grind in a mortar, on a grindstone, or in a blender or food processor. Sift if necessary to remove husks. Any toasted oat flour, from coarse and branny to a fine silky powder, will work well.
In Wales, this recipe is made with laverbread, which is a type of very firm dark purple seaweed with thin fronds; it grows on the rocks where little bivalve shellfish called cockles are also collected. Here (in the US), we don’t have laverbread, so other seaweeds must be used. If the seaweed is tough, like laverbread or kelp, stew it in a slow cooker with a tablespoon or two of lemon juice until it is soft. This can take hours if the seaweed is very solid. Delicate seaweeds like dulse and sea lettuce are also good and do not need pre-cooking. If fresh, rinse at the last minute and only if necessary to remove sand. Chop as finely as possible by hand or by machine. If dried, soak for several hours or overnight, and squeeze out as much liquid as possible (the liquid is a salty and nutritious broth, which makes a useful base for soup). The end result should be a soft, loose, glutinous mush.
Mix toasted oat flour with the drained seaweed until you reach the consistency of a thick, somewhat sticky paste. Put into little flat cakes, any size you like—I use walnut-sized pieces, but some make them larger. Cook on a very hot, well-greased griddle, pan or stone. Bacon grease is preferred in Wales, duck or goose fat is also very good, but any grease you would use to fry an egg will do. Fry like croquettes, browning on both sides.
Traditionally a breakfast food, try them also for a salty, savory snack or side dish packed with history, nutrition, and plenty of flavor.
Easy Seaweed Cakes
Soak half a cup of dried dulse overnight; drain and press until mostly dry. Toast one cup of non-instant oatmeal until just browned and whiz in a blender to medium-coarse flour.
Mix and let set for five minutes, then fry in butter or grease.
This makes two servings.
Enjoy!
Rebecca Randall Gilbert and her husband run the Native Earth Teaching farm “located on a glacial moraine on a watershed between the north and south shores of Martha’s Vineyard, Wampanoag land. ..There (they) raise animals and plants to their heart’s content, and Rebecca teaches rural skills and fiber arts to anyone who shows an interest, from toddlers to elders. From community gardens to goat school to bubbling dye pots to herbal potions, there’s always some sort of experiment going on or some kind of project taking root. Famous for their compost, the friendliness of their goats, their delicious local food, and their ornery, old-fashioned ways, these farmers are doing their best to carry forward the skills and joys of the past into a new and different future.”
~Weedy Wisdom, by Rebecca Randall Gilbert, Llewellyn Publications, Woodbury, Minnesota, 2022
To learn more about Rebecca, visit her website, Native Earth Teaching Farm. https://nativeearthteachingfarm.org/
