Falassa is my name. I have
the first licence - experimental as it is - in England
to harvest commercially attached macroscopic algae (sea weed/veg) in England.
My concern is
marine ecology and the ability of coastal communities to develop
economic/social sustainability.
Enough! The mackerel are headed north-westwards into the welcoming and deathly embrace of
Faro-ese nets. Rain comes down with incessant regularity to drown our
vegetables in the summer. Half of Cornwall is
seeded with spuds which, shrouded by phosphorescant blue poison tablets, are destined
for Leicester and Walker’s
Chrisp Factory – then return.
And then folk
watch the sainted Hugh on TV and come down and overturn rocks for crabs, hack
away at the marsh samphire and burrow for cockles. Prince Fuckwit owns the manorial
rights to the shellfish, Lord ffffVyvian owns God knows what…
In the bay self-styled
eco-fishermen hang the delightfully termed tangle-nets in the bay (catch
everything) and there is vague talk about banning fish discards. A hungry man
never discards, but we are not hungry – so we discard.
Hunting sea-veg
for the kitchen is a bit of a conceptual long shot. Easy maybe to understand
that it’s better to be vegetarian on the basis that a steak takes three times
its volume of plants to make itself. But how do I get across the message that
it’s better to eat the seaweed than the carrots that are so enthusiastically
covered in storm-cast algae?
Anyhows…just
let’s start with the idea that plants grow in the sea whatever the weather conditions,
that they soak up a complex array of minerals, nutrients, trace elements…and
that the chemical processes of these plants then create proteins and sugars and
this and that.
And all year round…whilst
in January we might just have nettles on-shore, below the shore line are plants
full of goodness and culinary intrigue. Their bed-mates are molluscs and
bi-valves, at their best in the winter when they are not spawning. Ever tried a
stir fry of kelp, pepper dulse and mussels?
I am trying to persuade the
nation that sea plants are good to eat with nutritional/health benefits that
are said to be stratospheric (there is a bundle of peer reviewed research
around). Whisper it but quietly, but we do have our own super foods within
reach – easy reach.
Except: it’s never that
simple. As a seaweed harvester I am classified as a primary food producer. This
means that I have to write a Food Safety Management System, establish Critical
Control Points, have my premises (mother’s greenhouse) inspected, obtain
landowners’ permission, undertake ecological impact reviews and…oh, I can’t
remember now. Insurance or something.
Actually, it’s all fine, I am
happy to comply and think my way through hygiene issues. And, I can tell you
something simple: hand harvesting sea veg is arduous, dangerous, frustrating
and yet…uplifting. It’s not an easy buck, but who wouldn’t be up to their waste
in water in an almost lunar rock landscape on a forgotten stretch of Cornish coastline?
I am getting on in years
now, probably happiest building boats but I can now combine boat-building and
sea veg harvesting. Lessons are being learnt the hard way, and I want to pass
on my knowledge.
So this year I will be
running some events on my bit of hidden coast, maybe even setting up a training
course with a ticket at the end. Sea plants are curious, weird, complex
creatures, little understood. I love them, an d always say a little ancient Scottish prayer
before cutting:
May the glory of the sea be thine
May the glory of the earth be thine
And may the glory of heaven be thine
May the glory of the earth be thine
And may the glory of heaven be thine
When you get to
pick some marine algae, remember to nibble them first, cut lightly (a third of
the plant half way up) with scissors and avoid busy beaches. Dry the leaves in
the sun, then pack away.
More
information on courses and holidays at www.falassa.co.uk
