Page 150 - Through the eyes of an African chef

THROUGH THE EYES OF AN AFRICAN CHEF
Sea lettuce and other forageable edibles
AS PART OF MY COOKERY course in 2012, we went foraging on the shores of the Irish ocean. I joined the foraging crew again in May 2017, in Cork, Ireland, during the Ballymaloe Litfest.
I was fascinated as our guide and botanist told us of the importance of honing into your human instincts while foraging, as “your body will tell what you should and should not eat. Note your reaction when you get close to an unknown plant”. It made me wonder about South Africa’s seaweed collection. Along the South Coast of KwaZulu-Natal, I had often seen seaweed, but had not seen anyone really foraging it. This has changed in recent years, and people are once again foraging and eating seaweed.
Today, South Africans harvest sea lettuce, much like we did in Ireland. Other forageables at sea would be agar – gelatine of the ocean – nori and, of course, the popular kelp and ulva.
I am soon going to venture to northern and southern KwaZulu-Natal, where traditional medicine experts will be teaching me how to forage for healing. It’s exciting as I will be exploring traditional plants of the ginger family and the source of aspirin; but that will be for my next book.
In the meantime, happy cooking and many African memories, wherever you are in the world.
148 MY TRAVEl RECIPES: bAllYMAlOE [ chapter nine ]