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Haha, I clicked on comment to be the token Northern Irishman bringing this up, but you beat me to it! I didn't know seaweed wasn't a common food until I moved

Haha, I clicked on comment to be the token Northern Irishman bringing this up, but you beat me to it! I didn't know seaweed wasn't a common food until I moved to the Netherlands and started enquiring about the local seaweed, only to be met with blank looks or people pointing me to the sushi nori at Albert Heijn. I've been here for years and I still don't understand how such a seafaring nation with such an intimate connection with the coast line could lack a seaweed culture. Until I saw this article I was starting to think seaweed was unique to rockier island coastlines, but I guess it just comes down to taste/fashion? After all, you can sail the seven seas as pillage the world of all its spices, but nothing compares to a broodje kaas! Have heard the theory that it's part of Calvinistic protestantism to avoid strong flavours, but then I'd expect to see more seaweed etc in the South.

youngNed 3y ago
I have only ever eaten it dried, but last time I was in Portstewart I saw someone collecting it fresh, and got talking to him. It tastes a LOT nicer fresh. But that's not saying a lot, I mean it still tastes like salty rubber. As for the content below, that it tastes like bacon?? I mean, yeeeeeaaaaaahhh? In the same way that a used condom might taste of bacon?
- olddustytrail 3y ago
  I'm assuming that is more texture based. I think it just tastes of seaweed. I'll bow to your greater experience on the flavour of used condoms.
- AlecSchueler 3y ago
  Wasn't expecting to see Portstewart on Hacker News today but here we go! Aye, I've only had the fresh stuff myself as a child. My aunties would rent a caravan down on the Strangford coast and we would go down to get it ourselves, and we'd pick mollusks from the rocks and other things of that nature. Some great memories there, thank you for bringing them to the fore. Salty rubber is right. I don't actually like the stuff myself but I still enjoy eating it somehow! The iodine flavour is always the main thing for me, but I can see the appeal for sure.
JAlexoid 3y ago
>Have heard the theory that it's part of Calvinistic protestantism to avoid strong flavours That's very believable. Puritan protestants banned all kinds of things that produce "pleasure". How do you think westerners got so prudish about intercourse? > but then I'd expect to see more seaweed etc in the South. Warmer waters carry less oxygen(I think that's the gist of it), so less seaweed grows. Just think about a perfect beach, with clear blue waters and seeing all the way down to the sand on the seafloor... you know it's somewhere very warm and there's no seaweed.
- AlecSchueler 3y ago
  I meant the South of the Netherlands, sorry, which doesn't have a drastically warmer climate than the North of the country.
Cthulhu_ 3y ago
Cheese and milk products in general are popular because it keeps well in winter, and large swathes of the country would get flooded on occasion; only grass would survive, which cows eat, and cows produce milk. Hard to build underground cold storage as well in case of flooding or just a high water table. Cheese will save us all.
- TeMPOraL 3y ago
  > Cheese will save us all. Except vegans, of course.
  - AlecSchueler 3y ago
    Interestingly the Netherlands is actually one of the biggest markets for vegan cheese altnernatives. Many people here, even if they aren't vegan, try to limit their reliance on animal products for health, climate related or other moral reasons.
    - jna_sh 3y ago
      Moving here from London was a shock: I thought London was one of the better places for vegetarian food, I wasn’t prepared for the huge selection of vegan alternatives in everyday Dutch supermarkets
      - Melting_Harps 3y ago
        > Moving here from London was a shock: I thought London was one of the better places for vegetarian food, I wasn’t prepared for the huge selection of vegan alternatives in everyday Dutch supermarkets They are often the source for lots of Asian ingredients in mainland Europe, while I was in the UK we sourced lots of things like umeboshi and miso from Holland; to my surprise being from CA with lots of access to Japanese/Chinese/Korean ingredients I found lots of the Dutch stuff to be really good. I'm not sure if that has to do their with relationship (and desire for it's food) with Japan during the isolation period, but there were lots of Japanese products in a biodyanmic farm/shop I worked at in Germany too. Sadly, it was rather limited in scope because they are the main exporters of conventional food in the EU for a reason.
riedel 3y ago
Typically you get Salicornia in the Netherlands which is not strictly seaweed but I guess somewhat comparible (aquatic plants is I guess what they call it in the article)
- AlecSchueler 3y ago
  Ah yes samphire! Zeekreel. Funny enough it's something I've seen growing at home in Ireland but never thought it was something I could be eating. I'll check that out for sure, thank you.
  - JelteF 3y ago
    Zeekraal is really nice in lots of dishes. It goes well with at least pasta, patatoes and salads.
- bullfightonmars 3y ago
  This is something I really miss now that I don’t live in NL. I have found it along the coast in Washington, but almost never for sale.
wlamartin 3y ago
Northern Irish, living in the Netherlands, commenting on hacker news, there must be severals of us!
- username135 3y ago
  Dozens of us
  - aidano101 3y ago
    Dozens! A wheen at least :)
    - youngNed 3y ago
      a brave wheen
      - AlecSchueler 3y ago
        Do I smell a meetup coming? I know a place in Rotterdam that does Tayto and bottles of bucky!
bboygravity 3y ago
I suspect Dutchies used to eat quite a bit of seaweed and aquatic plants (and that some still do, zeekraal is fairly popular), but that it was just forgotten by most Dutch people/culture. If you're interested you might want to look for hiking/walking tours into the dunes with some nature-freak and/or chef. Or do some internet searching. I recall going on walks with guides as a kid with the family and they would point out tons of stuff that was edible, but somehow ceased to be popular food. This reminds me of some other losses of Dutch identity/tradition: Dutch folkloric dances (almost no Dutch person will be able to tell you what they where) or the fact that only Japanese seem to know what "Dutch coffee" is.
- AlecSchueler 3y ago
  That's a brilliant idea, I'll definitely look for those, thank you. I know what you mean about the dancing too. I play traditional music from Ireland and we have a regular folk dance evening here in Rotterdam. It's always a pity that we have to look so far afield for the music and the steps. From what I've heard there's a perception in Dutch society that folk dance would be mainly associated with the far right. Do you recognise that? Always surprises me because at home the traditional music is very much anti colonial.

youngNed 3y ago

I have only ever eaten it dried, but last time I was in Portstewart I saw someone collecting it fresh, and got talking to him. It tastes a LOT nicer fresh. But that's not saying a lot, I mean it still tastes like salty rubber. As for the content below, that it tastes like bacon?? I mean, yeeeeeaaaaaahhh? In the same way that a used condom might taste of bacon?

olddustytrail 3y ago
I'm assuming that is more texture based. I think it just tastes of seaweed. I'll bow to your greater experience on the flavour of used condoms.
AlecSchueler 3y ago
Wasn't expecting to see Portstewart on Hacker News today but here we go! Aye, I've only had the fresh stuff myself as a child. My aunties would rent a caravan down on the Strangford coast and we would go down to get it ourselves, and we'd pick mollusks from the rocks and other things of that nature. Some great memories there, thank you for bringing them to the fore. Salty rubber is right. I don't actually like the stuff myself but I still enjoy eating it somehow! The iodine flavour is always the main thing for me, but I can see the appeal for sure.

JAlexoid 3y ago

>Have heard the theory that it's part of Calvinistic protestantism to avoid strong flavours That's very believable. Puritan protestants banned all kinds of things that produce "pleasure". How do you think westerners got so prudish about intercourse? > but then I'd expect to see more seaweed etc in the South. Warmer waters carry less oxygen(I think that's the gist of it), so less seaweed grows. Just think about a perfect beach, with clear blue waters and seeing all the way down to the sand on the seafloor... you know it's somewhere very warm and there's no seaweed.

AlecSchueler 3y ago
I meant the South of the Netherlands, sorry, which doesn't have a drastically warmer climate than the North of the country.

Cthulhu_ 3y ago

Cheese and milk products in general are popular because it keeps well in winter, and large swathes of the country would get flooded on occasion; only grass would survive, which cows eat, and cows produce milk. Hard to build underground cold storage as well in case of flooding or just a high water table. Cheese will save us all.

TeMPOraL 3y ago
> Cheese will save us all. Except vegans, of course.
- AlecSchueler 3y ago
  Interestingly the Netherlands is actually one of the biggest markets for vegan cheese altnernatives. Many people here, even if they aren't vegan, try to limit their reliance on animal products for health, climate related or other moral reasons.
  - jna_sh 3y ago
    Moving here from London was a shock: I thought London was one of the better places for vegetarian food, I wasn’t prepared for the huge selection of vegan alternatives in everyday Dutch supermarkets
    - Melting_Harps 3y ago
      > Moving here from London was a shock: I thought London was one of the better places for vegetarian food, I wasn’t prepared for the huge selection of vegan alternatives in everyday Dutch supermarkets They are often the source for lots of Asian ingredients in mainland Europe, while I was in the UK we sourced lots of things like umeboshi and miso from Holland; to my surprise being from CA with lots of access to Japanese/Chinese/Korean ingredients I found lots of the Dutch stuff to be really good. I'm not sure if that has to do their with relationship (and desire for it's food) with Japan during the isolation period, but there were lots of Japanese products in a biodyanmic farm/shop I worked at in Germany too. Sadly, it was rather limited in scope because they are the main exporters of conventional food in the EU for a reason.

riedel 3y ago

Typically you get Salicornia in the Netherlands which is not strictly seaweed but I guess somewhat comparible (aquatic plants is I guess what they call it in the article)

AlecSchueler 3y ago
Ah yes samphire! Zeekreel. Funny enough it's something I've seen growing at home in Ireland but never thought it was something I could be eating. I'll check that out for sure, thank you.
- JelteF 3y ago
  Zeekraal is really nice in lots of dishes. It goes well with at least pasta, patatoes and salads.
bullfightonmars 3y ago
This is something I really miss now that I don’t live in NL. I have found it along the coast in Washington, but almost never for sale.

wlamartin 3y ago

Northern Irish, living in the Netherlands, commenting on hacker news, there must be severals of us!

username135 3y ago
Dozens of us
- aidano101 3y ago
  Dozens! A wheen at least :)
  - youngNed 3y ago
    a brave wheen
    - AlecSchueler 3y ago
      Do I smell a meetup coming? I know a place in Rotterdam that does Tayto and bottles of bucky!

bboygravity 3y ago

I suspect Dutchies used to eat quite a bit of seaweed and aquatic plants (and that some still do, zeekraal is fairly popular), but that it was just forgotten by most Dutch people/culture. If you're interested you might want to look for hiking/walking tours into the dunes with some nature-freak and/or chef. Or do some internet searching. I recall going on walks with guides as a kid with the family and they would point out tons of stuff that was edible, but somehow ceased to be popular food. This reminds me of some other losses of Dutch identity/tradition: Dutch folkloric dances (almost no Dutch person will be able to tell you what they where) or the fact that only Japanese seem to know what "Dutch coffee" is.

AlecSchueler 3y ago
That's a brilliant idea, I'll definitely look for those, thank you. I know what you mean about the dancing too. I play traditional music from Ireland and we have a regular folk dance evening here in Rotterdam. It's always a pity that we have to look so far afield for the music and the steps. From what I've heard there's a perception in Dutch society that folk dance would be mainly associated with the far right. Do you recognise that? Always surprises me because at home the traditional music is very much anti colonial.