RT journal article
T1 “Sea rice”: From traditional culinary customs to sustainable crop for high-end gastronomy?
A1 Pérez Lloréns, José Lucas
A1 Brun Murillo, Fernando Guillermo
A2 Biología
K1 Blue carbon
K1 Domestication
K1 Gastronomy
K1 Seagrasses
K1 Sea rice
K1 Zostera marina
AB Seaweed cuisine is booming in Western countries, but the nutritional and culinary potential of seagrasses remains largely unexplored. Seagrasses, unlike seaweeds, produce seeds. In the case of Zostera marina its seeds (commonly known as “sea rice”) have historically been used an as staple food by indigenous cultures, such as Seri Indians. Very recently, great expectations have been raised, with worldwide media coverage, about the use of the seeds as a new ingredient in some avant-garde restaurant. This article provides basic information on the biology of Z. marina, especially with regard to reproduction by seeds (the valuable gastronomic ingredient). It is important to know what are the main bottlenecks for seed production and meadow growth if seeds are to be used as novel and sustainable ingredients. One way to achieve enough seed production for gastronomic purposes may be throughout the “domestication” (farming) in natural earthen ponds near coastal areas where meadows are currently very scarce, such as in the Bay of Cadiz. This domestication not only opens up gastronomic possibilities, but part of the seed production can be used to meadow restoration, boosting the local economy, sustainability and blue carbon removal, and making the binomial gastronomy-sustainability a reality.
PB AZTI-Tecnalia
SN 1878-4518
YR 2023
FD 2023
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10498/32306
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10498/32306
LA eng
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Cádiz
RD 11-nov-2026