Have you eaten or made laver bread? Do you like it? Why is it called bread?

by Galeanda on August 10th, 2007

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GiraffeyedDonor-ish Dec 11th, 2007 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lava_bread

Laverbread (Welsh: Bara Lawr) is a traditional Welsh delicacy made from the seaweed laver. It is also known as 'Seaweed Bread.'

Laver is used traditionally in the Welsh diet and is still eaten widely across Wales in the form of laverbread. The seaweed is boiled for several hours: the gelatinous paste that results is then rolled in oatmeal and fried. Laverbread is traditionally eaten fried with bacon and cockles for breakfast.

Swansea market has several stalls selling only laverbread and cockles from the nearby Gower Peninsula. The source of the seaweed used to make laverbread was historically the Gower coastline. There are still small producers of Gower laverbread, but most commercial laverbread is now made from seaweed gathered from western Scotland. In addition to Wales, laverbread is eaten across the Bristol Channel in North Devon, especially around the Exmoor coast around Lynmouth and Combe Martin.

Laver is highly nutritious because of its high proportions of protein, iron, and especially iodine. It also contains high levels of vitamins B2, A, D and C.
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- peterpam Well done!
  
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- GiraffeyedDonor-ish Thank you!
  
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MrWitch Aug 10th, 2007 Yes I have and yes I do. I think it really depends on what it's eaten with. Laverbread is traditionally eaten fried with bacon and cockles for breakfast, the seaweed having first been boiled for several hours, (no jokes about British food preparation please), rolled in oatmeal and fried.

Lava bread is 'Bara lawr' in Welsh ('bara' is 'bread')

It's not just Welsh though - Laverbread is also eaten across the Bristol Channel in North Devon, especially around the Exmoor coast. It contains high proportions of protein, iron, and especially iodine. It also contains high levels of vitamins B2, A, D and C.

I suppose the fact it takes frying to make it pallatable detracts somewhat from it's beneficial effects, but nevertheless it *is*, on balance, good for you.

I think the origins of it's name lie in the fact that until the latter half of the 20th century it was 'poor food' - it doesn't take money to scavenge a coastline. Add to that the fact that once it's rolled in oats it looks (vaguely) like a primitive bread. I can also imagine families telling children this was bread, and how do you trade in something like this by telling your potential buyers the truth? That's just my guess though.
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- Galeanda Thank you so much. I saw it being added to a dish on TV and knew it was seaweed something but had never heard of it. Very interesting hearing about it from someone that personally knows about it:-)
  
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peterpam Aug 10th, 2007 I have eaten it, you cannot make it because it is sea weed and they can call it what they like it is still horrible. I guess the bread bit is an Anglicized interpretation of the Welsh name!
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- Galeanda Wow! Very different response here than the other one. Thanks for another viewpoint:-)
  
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