Who wants to eat Dulse?

Before meeting Pam, who’s the PR rep for Visit Nova Scotia, I had no idea what Dulse was. Pam mentioned that I could go out and have a Dulse cooking course at TBEX. I even found out, that in Atlantic Canada, they eat a DLT sandwich (Dulse, Tomato and Lettuce).  This week, I’m in Saint John, New Brunswick and I’m having lunch everyday at the Central Market. I love eating in Markets … whether it’s St. Lawrence Market in Toronto, Mercado de San Miguel in Barcelona, fish shopping and cooking in Boracay, Phillipines, or eating in Mercado de San Lucas, Guatemala. I went for the fish and chips on the first day.

As much as the fish and chips was great, I then stumbled upon a counter of Dulse while wandering around the market.

So you’re still wondering what Dulse is? Well here’s what it looks like in the dried form …

When you get to Central Market in Saint John, you can have tons of bagged dulse, and it’s available year round. I assume that around the Bay of Fundy, you can get it in any corner store and that people here munch this stuff like Potato Chips. I was actually told that people eat it like Potato Chips … I don’t know if I actually believe that. Doing some research on Dulse, like any other seaweed, it’s a natural source of essential vitamins, ions, sea salt, iodine and roughage. It is harvested from the cold waters of the North Atlantic, then sun-dried to preserve the natural nutrients. It provides you with a variety of essential vitamins, minerals, protein and trace elements.

• Supports thyroid gland activity and function
• Provides several essential minerals, protein and trace elements that help support thyroid gland activity and function
• Provides a natural source of iodine, an essential trace mineral that is needed by the thyroid gland to maintain proper metabolism. Iodine helps the body regulate temperature, blood cell production, muscle and nerve function and other bodily functions

I don’t know how much anyone would want to eat Dulse, as it’s simply plucked out of the water at the lowest of low tides then laid out above the tide line to dry (so it doesn’t get washed back out into the Bay when the tide comes in!). This activity is fairly low tech but it dries the dulse to perfection! At the market, it’s just put into paper bags and sold like this.