The image, above, shows the full Spiral Wrack alga (Fucusspiralis) with an image of a young plant, top and a more
mature plant, bottom..
| Common Name: Spiral Wrack |
| Scientific Name: Fucus spiralis |
| Other Names: Twisted Wrack and Flat Wrack |
| Family: Laminariaceae |
| Range: Coasts all around the British Isles,[4] western coasts of Europe, Canary Islands and North-eastern America. |
Physical Characteristics
Fucus spiralis is a brown alga, (Heterokontophyta, Phaeophyceae), living on the littoral shore of the Atlantic coasts of Europe and North America. It is olive brown in colour and grows to about 30 cm long and branches somewhat irregularly dichotomous and is attached, generally to rock, by a discoid holdfast. The flattened blade has a distinct mid-rib and is usually spirally twisted without a serrated edge
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| Edible Parts: Fronds |
 Edibility Rating: 4 
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 Known Hazards: Though not toxic reports have been found for spiral wrack, like all sea vegetables (seaweed) they should only be collected where they grow in clean water and far away from effluent pipes and other sources of sewage.
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Welcome to the summary page for FabulousFusionFood's Wild Food guide to Spiral Wrack along with all the Spiral 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 Spiral Wrack as a major wild food ingredient.
Spiral Wrack, Fucus spiralis (also known as twisted wrack and flat wrack) is a large brown alga (and a member of the Fucaceae family [bladderwrack]) that is typically olive brown in colour.
Fucus spiralis is olive brown in colour and similar to Fucus vesiculosus and Fucus serratus. It grows to about 30 cm long and branches somewhat irregularly dichotomous and is attached, generally to rock, by a discoid holdfast. The flattened blade has a distinct mid-rib and is usually spirally twisted without a serrated edge, as in Fucus serratus, and it does not show air-vesicles, as Fucus vesiculosus. F. spiralis is one of the wracks that form the substantial brown seaweeds that make up most of the greeny-brown mat that lies in the high to mid tidal range around the UK coastline, and as such, are most commonly encountered by the average coastal explorer.
Twisted wrack is a pale olive-brown 'wrack' seaweed, recognised by the spirally twisting fronds with an obvious rib down the middle, and the yellowish, paired swollen tips which are the reproductive structures. It does not have air bladders and the edges are smooth not serrated.
All wracks, if harvested in good condition (tender, new growth) make good stock powder that adds body, flavour and an awful lot of nutrition to soups, stews, sauces etc. Fully dehydrate until crisp then grind to a fine powder in a spice grinder. If you aren’t taking your wracks straight from a dehydrator, its usually best to toast them lightly in the oven or in a dry frying pan until they are crisp – this will make grinding a lot easier.
Spiral wrack or Twisted wrack is a common wrack seaweed that grows just below the high water mark on rocky shores all around the UK. Living on the upper shore, it is very tolerant of desiccation and can survive out of the water for long periods, although not as long as Channelled wrack. It can live for up to five years.
They all also pickle well and making pickles from them is one of the best ways of keeping them for winter and using them to flavour other dishes.
Serrated wrack can be harvested year-round.
For other edible seaweed (sea vegetables), see the guide to edible seaweed
[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
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 Spiral Wrack as a major wild food ingredient.
Spiral Wrack, Fucus spiralis (also known as twisted wrack and flat wrack) is a large brown alga (and a member of the Fucaceae family [bladderwrack]) that is typically olive brown in colour.
Fucus spiralis is olive brown in colour and similar to Fucus vesiculosus and Fucus serratus. It grows to about 30 cm long and branches somewhat irregularly dichotomous and is attached, generally to rock, by a discoid holdfast. The flattened blade has a distinct mid-rib and is usually spirally twisted without a serrated edge, as in Fucus serratus, and it does not show air-vesicles, as Fucus vesiculosus. F. spiralis is one of the wracks that form the substantial brown seaweeds that make up most of the greeny-brown mat that lies in the high to mid tidal range around the UK coastline, and as such, are most commonly encountered by the average coastal explorer.
Twisted wrack is a pale olive-brown 'wrack' seaweed, recognised by the spirally twisting fronds with an obvious rib down the middle, and the yellowish, paired swollen tips which are the reproductive structures. It does not have air bladders and the edges are smooth not serrated.
All wracks, if harvested in good condition (tender, new growth) make good stock powder that adds body, flavour and an awful lot of nutrition to soups, stews, sauces etc. Fully dehydrate until crisp then grind to a fine powder in a spice grinder. If you aren’t taking your wracks straight from a dehydrator, its usually best to toast them lightly in the oven or in a dry frying pan until they are crisp – this will make grinding a lot easier.
Spiral wrack or Twisted wrack is a common wrack seaweed that grows just below the high water mark on rocky shores all around the UK. Living on the upper shore, it is very tolerant of desiccation and can survive out of the water for long periods, although not as long as Channelled wrack. It can live for up to five years.
They all also pickle well and making pickles from them is one of the best ways of keeping them for winter and using them to flavour other dishes.
Serrated wrack can be harvested year-round.
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
The alphabetical list of all Spiral Wrack recipes on this site follows, (limited to 100 recipes per page). There are 4 recipes in total:
Page 1 of 1
| Dried Serrated Wrack Origin: Britain | Pickled Serrated Wrack Origin: Britain |
| Gurnard Fillets Steamed on a Bed of Wrack Origin: England | Serrated Wrack Tea Origin: Canada |
Page 1 of 1