Glasswort: another gift from the sea!

My buddy Jean returned today from holiday at Kamouraska, a Quebec beach town on the Bay/Mer St. Laurence. "I've got something for you to taste" he said. "What?" said I. "Glasswort" he replied. "So what the @#$%%& is glasswort?" I asked. "Look it up" he said. So I did.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salicornia

He'd brought some in on ice, a cup, cup and a half. TODG and I dug in. It's green, very very crunchy, and DAMN! it tastes exactly like the sea in exactly the way that a perfectly fresh oyster does: salty, fluid, iodine-ic, just like you could hear the waves break.


I must say, I've never had anything quite like it. TODG ate it all, right before my eyes. Now, of course, what about refills? Looks like we'll have to go to the beach/shore/seaside in order to find it. Oh boy, what a neat revelation.

Geo

I think I had something similar in the Florida Keys when I was a kid. We did a nature walk with a guide, and she pointed out some amazing things like sea beans and other drift seeds. Then she picked some type of plant and passed it around for people to chew on. Exactly how you described, taste-wise. Thanks for putting a (possible) name with the plant memory!

actually, after googling around, I recognized what I ate as sea purslane. similar, and found in the same places...

emdub--

Yes, isn't that interesting? Similar, similar habitats, both edible, but entirely different species. Here's the UFL info:

http://www.sfrc.ufl.edu/4h/Sea_purslane/seapursl.htm


And I found an Australian version, too:

http://www.epa.qld.gov.au/publications/ ... trum/i.pdf

That must be a good place to make a living!

Geo