There are plenty of reasons to love science, but we’re gonna go out on a limb and say that the discovery of a superfood we might definitely want to consume is up there.
The genii over at Oregon State University have discovered (and patented, knowing they’ve hit a fucking gold mine) a new strain of seaweed that tastes like BACON when cooked and – this is the real clincher – has twice the nutritional value of kale.
Chris Langdon, a professor of fisheries at OSU, originally tapped the edible algae – called ‘dulse’ – to feed sea snails (there’s a BIG market for fat abalone in China). But, after discovering it grew at a rate of up to 13kg A WEEK and with more of the stuff than he knew what to do with, Langdon handed some over to research chefs from OSU’s Food Innovation Center to come up with some new recipes using it as the main ingredient.
It was during this process they discovered Langdon’s homegrown strain of seaweed gave off a distinctly bacon-y flavour when pan-fried. And a “pretty strong bacon flavour” at that, according to Langdon, who boasts: “This stuff is pretty amazing.”
Provided you’re hungover enough, it even looks like succulent, smoky, porky bacon. Or at the very least proscuitto:
There are currently no commercial operations that grow dulse – which is found along the Pacific and Atlantic coastlines – for human consumption outside of northern Europe, where flakes of it are added to food and powered versions to smoothies, but a bunch Portland chefs are already on that shiz like grease on a BLT.
Let’s just take a second to imagine all the ways a bacon-flavoured superfood could improve our lives, and insides, if it were to go mainstream.
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Ok, we’re done. THANKS SCIENCE, AND THIS GUY (Prof. Langdon with his algae).
Now get your cute bacon-y butt Down Under, dulse.
Images via Oregon State University
