This seaweed tastes like bacon – Wake Wind and Surf News

Bacon may have its fans, but it also has its faults. The 12 grams of total fat, 647 milligrams of sodium, and 31 mg of cholesterol make this one food that should be consumed in small amounts, if at all. Our wishes have been granted by researchers at Oregon State University, who’ve created and patented a new seaweed that’s similar in taste to bacon when cooked. Apparently, dulse is packed with twice the nutritional value of kale and that, coupled with the delicious taste of bacon, means you can enjoy your favorite breakfast food guilt-free. He’s hoping this new taste of bacon will eventually become popular enough that you see it in the grocery stores.

Dulse is a naturally-occurring red marine algae that grows along the Atlantic and Pacific coastlines.

The strain of dulse they came up with, which looks like translucent red lettuce, is a great source of minerals, vitamins and antioxidants, not to mention protein.

Nutrition aside, this new strain of dulse can be sustainably raised and harvested with very low environmental impacts, researchers said, since the seaweed only needs saltwater and sunshine to grow. And bacon-tasting strips, which are fried like regular bacon to bring out the flavor. However, some MBA students studying under Chuck Toombs, in OSU’s College of Business, are reportedly exploring the potential for this dulse variety as a new aquaculture business, as well as preparing a marketing plan for a new line of specialty foods based on it.

Are you exhausted of eating the same tasteless food just to avoid weight gain? That’s because the researchers received a grant from the Oregon Department of Agriculture to work with dulse as a specialty crop.

The team began researching ways of farming the new strain of dulse to feed abalone, but they quickly realized its potential to do well in the human-food market. Not much interest has been shown in dulse in its fresh form but after frying the seaweed, people will be amazed at how tasteful it really is. I, for one, am looking forward to trying them!

But all that might change, thanks to a discovery made by researchers from Oregon State University.