Algae is a common name for a group of different organisms, which includes benthic, unicellular and multicellular, as well as some green, blue, red and brown algae.
They have a wide variety of appearances and applications - from the role of food additives to fertilizers for agricultural structures. The two largest and well-known uses of seaweed are food preparation and cosmetics.
Seaweed in cooking
Cooking is one of the most creative activities, and seafood has its rightful place here. Here, the use of seaweed powder is justified - as seasonings, alone or in combination with other spices. Dry and canned ingredients find their place in first and second courses, salads, desserts.
"Seafood" is turned into vitamin supplements, eaten as part of sweets and drunk as part of cocktails. There are a lot of edible algae - several dozen, but here we will only talk about a few of the most popular.
Kelp
Many types of seaweed are eaten. To fill the daily need for iodine, it is enough to eat 30-40 grams of it. A large number of dishes are prepared from kelp: it can be used instead of ordinary cabbage in soups, with meat or fish, in side dishes, it is suitable for sweets, marshmallows, and is edible in candied form.
In Japan, kombu, as they call one of the types of kelp, is used to prepare a traditional dish - dashi soup. It is also used as a seasoning - many powdered seaweeds are suitable as a flavoring either alone or mixed with other spices.
Spirulina
Algae, very rich in protein, it contains up to 77% - about three times more than in meat. And of course, it is complete, that is, it contains all the essential amino acids, and in addition to them - useful vitamins, micro and macro elements.
Spirulina can be found on sale in the form of powder (in this form it goes as a dietary supplement) and in the form of tablets. Using seaweed powder as an additive allows you to enrich traditional Western dishes with useful ingredients.
Fucus
This kelp doesn't taste good, so it's more commonly used dried as a supplement. Fucus contains a large amount of vitamins and macronutrients, including Omega-3 acids,polysaccharides, it is able to reduce body fat and cholesterol levels.
Nori
Under this name is the red porphyry seaweed. Included in the traditional South Wales dish - "miner's breakfast" - along with sausages, fried eggs and fried bacon and tomatoes. Not all types of porphyry are edible, but nori is usually understood as these edible varieties that grow not only near Japan, but also near Wales and China.
In nori, as in many other "sea plants", a lot of protein, vitamins and trace elements, besides, they go well with rice, and are also suitable as seasoning for noodles. There are many recipes for cooking dishes with them - in traditional Japanese cuisine, they are a component of almost a fourth of the recipes of national cuisine.
Dulce and birth control
Duls has long been used as food in Ireland and Scotland, it can be found dried on store shelves. Rodimania is an ingredient in Icelandic cuisine, where it was considered a cure for many diseases.
"S alt" from marine plants
Algae s alt is one of the most convenient forms you can find on the market. Not everyone loves seaweed and is able to learn how to cook it. However, almost everyone uses s alt.
Using seaweed powder in the form of s alt is a convenient culinary option. At the same time, seaweed s alt has a huge advantage over ordinary sodium chloride. Cooked correctly, it retains the entire set of micro- andmacronutrients, vitamins, amino acids, which contained a living plant. You can use it in the same way as usual. In Russia, you can find fucus and kelp s alt in stores.
seaweed spices
However, seafood can be used not only in the form of s alt. Using seaweed powder as a seasoning is also a great way to introduce seaweed into your diet. The lightest in this series are nori and dulse, the stronger ones are kombu and kelp, the most s alty is wakame.
Cooking them is quite simple: fry in the oven at a low temperature until they darken and become crispy. After crush in a mortar into a fine powder. The resulting powder can be combined with other spices.
Seaweed as cosmetics
Among the most commonly used are kelp, spirulina, fucus. Seaweeds in cosmetology are part of masks, creams, massage oils, used for body wraps, baths and peeling.
Kelp is valuable in the fight against cellulite, stretch marks and metabolic disorders. In salons, it is found either in the form of a micronized powder or thalli. Spirulina, due to its composition, is able to lift skin tone, moisturize and nourish it, and have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects.
Fucus is an effective remedy for the prevention of stretch marks, the fight against wrinkles and cellulite. Has a detoxifying effect on the body. In cosmetology, it is most often used in the form of an extract,oil or micronized powder.