Welcome to the summary page for FabulousFusionFood's Wild Food guide to Serrated Wrack along with all the Serrated Wrack containing recipes presented on this site, with 4 recipes in total.

This is a continuation of an entire series of pages that will, I hope, allow my visitors to better navigate this site. As well as displaying recipes by name, country and region of origin I am now planning a whole series of pages where recipes can be located by meal type and main ingredient. This page gives a listing of all the Cornish recipes added to this site.

These recipes, all contain Serrated Wrack as a major wild food ingredient.

Serrated Wrack, Fucus serratus (also known as toothed wrack and saw wrack) is a large brown alga (and a member of the Fucaceae family [bladderwrack]) that is typically olive brown in colour. It grows grows profusely in a wide variety of situations from exposed rocky shores to saline lagoons all along the Atlantic coast of Europe (the range extends from the Canary Islands and Portugal up to the Island of Svalbard). Most common, however, it is found on sheltered rocky substrata subject to some degree of disturbance such as from tidal scour. Though technically a brown alga it can vary in colour from olive green through reddish brown (though typically it always has a greenish tint). The fronds are typically 2cm wide, bifurcating and up to 1m long with a short stipe. It attaches to rocks via a discoid holdfast about 3cm in diameter. Typically it grows gregariously, forming dense mats of long ribbons up to 1m long and 5cm across. Down the centre of each ribbon is a distinct midrib (but unlike many other wracks it does not have air vesicles), however, this is the only wrack to have a toothed or serrated margin to the fronds and can easily be distinguished because of this.

This seaweed is not commonly used as a food, though it is harvested for cosmetics in Ireland and France and it is harvested to make liquid fertilizer in the Western Isles of Scotland. However, its edible properties are very similar to that of bladderwrack and interest in this plant is growing, as, being a thyroid stimulant it might could counter obesity by increasing the metabolic rate. It is also known to help women with abnormal menstrual cycling patterns and/or menstrual-related disease histories. Typically it is stored dried and makes a very nutritious tea as well as being used in soups (particularly Japanese-style noodle soups) and can be added to any soup or stew as a flavouring. Indeed, it is added as a flavouring to a number of European food products. Toothed Wrack can also be rendered as a powder and used as a flavouring additive to soups and stews.

Due to the toothed nature of the frond margins of this alga there are no species that it can easily be confused with.

For other edible seaweed (sea vegetables), see the guide to edible seaweed

References:

[1]. David Evans Notes from field observations, tastings and cookery experiments.
[2]. Huxley, A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992
[3]. Tanaka, T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World.
[4]. Lim T.K. Edible Medicinal And Non-Medicinal Plants, Vols 1–8.
[5]. Thomas, G. S. Perennial Garden Plants
[6]. Milner, E. Trees of Britain and Ireland
[7]. Rose, F. & O'Reilly, C. The Wild Flower Key (Revised Edition) – How to identify wild plants, trees and shrubs in Britain and Ireland
[8]. Streeter, D. & Garrard, I. The Wild Flowers of the British Isles
[9]. Clapham, A.R.; Tutin, T.G. & Moore, D.M. Flora of the British Isles
[10]. Phillips, R. Mushrooms
[10]. Phillips, R. Mushrooms
[11]. Jordan, P. & Wheeler, S. The Complete Book of Mushrooms: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Edible Mushrooms
[12]. Bunker, F.; Brodie, J.A.; Maggs, C.A. & Bunker, A. Seaweeds of Britain and Ireland.
[13]. Facciola, S. Cornucopia — A Source Book of Edible Plants