Five tips for cooking with seaweed the Welsh way

Cooking with seaweed in Wales has been celebrated for generations, thanks to the salty umami depth it brings to all sorts of foods.

Laver is perhaps the most well-known seaweed to eat, but modern Welsh cooking uses varieties like dulse and kelp for their flavours too.

1. Cook with laverbread / bara lawr

Laver seaweed is a Welsh staple, but confusingly, it's not a bread at all, but more of a purée. Freshly foraged laver is washed thoroughly and simmered in water for up to five hours until it breaks down into a deliciously savoury dark green paste. You can buy it in tins if you don't fancy cooking it from scratch.

Traditionally, this paste is rolled in oats, shaped into small patties, and fried in bacon fat for a Welsh breakfast but we love it spread over crusty bread with a crispy fried egg and pinch of Halen Môn too.

You can also stir your laverbread into the base of stews or spaghetti bolognese to naturally lift the dish with its rich umami content.

2. Use toasted seaweed as a seasoning

If you don't have hours to simmer fresh laver, look for dried and toasted laver flakes, like this Welshman's Caviar.

Sprinkle these toasted flakes onto scrambled eggs, Welsh rarebit, or roast potatoes to add a moreish depth.

3. Wrap food in seaweed

A popular technique among Welsh coastal cooks is using large, thick sheets of seaweed, like sugar kelp, to wrap fish, meat or hearty veg before roasting.

Wrap a fillet of fish, chicken or new season potatoes tightly in fresh or rehydrated seaweed sheets. It’ll act like a natural insulator, almost like tin foil, so you can cook at a higher heat without drying out, all the while seasoning your meal with a salty, umami depth. 

4. Experiment with other varieties

Beyond laver, other varieties like dulse and sea lettuce or green laver are common in Welsh waters.

Dulse is often said to taste a little like bacon when fried. Rinse it, chop it finely and use it similarly to cabbage or add it to mashed potato for a Welsh take on colcannon.

Sea Lettuce has bright green, translucent leaves which are excellent for quick-frying until crispy to make seaweed "chips" or flakes for garnishing soups.

5. Always forage responsibly and sustainably

Wales has strict guidelines for hand-harvesting seaweed to protect the coastline. Use sharp scissors to snip only the top third of the plant. Never pull at the "holdfast", the part attached to the rock, as this will kill the whole plant.