Enjoy the Free Food on the Beach
Walking on the beach
Recently, I learn that my playground was full of edible and healthy food. When I say playground, I am not talking about a forest or a meadow, my playground is the rocky coastline of Brittany in the northwest of France. On these granite rocks, green, red and brown algae are growing happily. Next time you feel a bit peckish, go on the beach and pick some algae. They grow quickly and are very abundant.

I didn’t know the sea next door was so generous. I thought algae were complicated to cook, but not at all. I encourage you to learn more about the seaweed around you and try to cook some. I tried to cook two algae. Saccharina latissima which looks like the track of a truck on the sand, and Himanthalia elongata better known as sea spaghetti for its similarity with the famous Italian noodles.
Algae grow from the tip, that’s why I cut the extremity to be sure to pick the freshest part of the algae. I brought it home, rinsed it, and boiled it for 6 minutes. While starting to cook the seaweed, you can smell the scent of the sea. To be honest, it’s not the best ambient perfume for your house, so open the window or find a way to change the air.


Once it’s cooked you should cut it in small pieces and add it into a salad. The sea spaghetti can also be fried with real spaghetti which will create a healthy dish. The taste of these algae is very neutral. My friends who tasted it were more surprised by its strange texture and its lack of flavour. Personally, I loved the spaghetti algae and could eat them everyday.

Walking on the beach I also found the sushi algae (Nori) Porphyra umbilicalis and just pick some to eat on the way. When you touch it, it’s not slippery like other algae, it feels like a dry tree leaf. It’s delicious and really look like those algae you buy in Asian stores to make sushi! I was really impressed. One important step before eating this raw alga is to carefully rinse it otherwise your teeth will suffer from the sand…
Next time you walk on the beach, check what you can forage beforehand and enjoy the free food provided by Nature.

A promising and new source of food
In a world where humankind is already growing food on half of the emerged Earth surface, algae are a great opportunity to save space and grow food for millions of people. Contrary to cereals and vegetables which are usually grown on the ground in a horizontal fashion, algae can be grown in water in a three dimensions space. For this reason, algae farming is more space efficient than any usual agricultural system which takes space and deplete soil resources. Algae don’t need fertile land and can be grown in the sea anywhere on the coast. Growing algae in the sea could save us space on the ground for restoring ecosystems and conserving biodiversity.
Since algae feed on the bottom of the sea and get nutrients from the surrounding water, it doesn’t need nutrients and can even use nutrients from wastewater. In addition, algae do not need irrigation because they grow in water and use the water from the sea unlike terrestrial crops. In contrast, vegetables and cereals struggle to grow on the ground because hundred years of unsustainable agriculture has depleted the soil from its nutrients, moreover, climate change cause droughts which are becoming difficult to overcome with irrigation.
Algae are not only good for the environment but also for health. Algae are a new source of nutritious food, rich in vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. They are so healthy and abundant that they are often called the food of the future. For example, algae like Chlorella and Spirulina are recommended to complement vegetarian diets as they contain B12 vitamins.
Moreover, algae components can bind to heavy metals and contribute to the detoxification of the body. In the same fashion, they help lower the amount of harmful chemical in the body and strengthen the body’s natural ability to clean itself by enhancing its immune system. Algae can lower blood pressure, prevent cancer and lessen intestinal gas.
Give it a chance!
They taste delicious once you know how to cook them. In certain cultures, like Japan, algae are an integral part of the daily diet. They are commonly used in stew or soup as well as salads and they go along well with fresh tofu or vegetables, fish and meat. The most famous Japanese use of algae is the slim layer of nori alga on sushi or the wakame condiment in a miso soup.
It is a shame that only a handful of cultures harness the benefits of algae in their diets. I guess most people are repelled by the fresh algae appearance and smell, however once it is cooked it is no different from a common salad. It is green, crunchy and plain. Its lack of flavour makes algae perfect to eat with any kind of food and any sauce. Algae can bring diversity to anyone’s diet.
If you live next to the sea, I really recommend you to have a look around you and forage this unknown source of healthy and nutritious source of food. If you are in Japan or in a country which already has the chance to have algae in their supermarket, go buy some and make a delicious stew or salad.