Sea moss is a sort of crimson algae discovered naturally within the shores of the North Atlantic. Often known as crimson seaweed, Irish moss, or Chondrus crispus, sea moss is commonly harvested and used to extract carrageenan, an ingredient that acts as a thickener, stabilizer, and binder in merchandise like almond milk, ice cream, deli meats, and extra.
Sea moss has just lately skilled a surge in reputation and has even been hailed as a superfood for pores and skin and intestine well being on TikTok and throughout social media. Nevertheless, it’s truly been round for fairly some time. In actual fact, it’s been used as a pure treatment for every thing from diarrhea to dysentery for hundreds of years and was additionally added to natural teas to assist fight colds1. Apparently, sea moss was even added to exploit and used to forestall dietary deficiencies in Eire throughout the potato famine2 of the 1800s.
Sea moss has a light taste that’s usually described as earthy and barely salty. When it’s loved contemporary, it has a gentle, gel-like texture, whereas dried sea moss provides a slight crunch. Nevertheless, it’s not usually eaten by itself and is often paired with different substances to assist tone down the style.