proportional falloff blender not doing whole donut

Kelp forests are extremely dynamic and productive with high biodiversity, acting as a habitat and refuge for many organisms and are important for nutrient cycling and energy capture. North American beavers and termites are often cited as the more obvious examples.

Kelp (actually an umbrella name for a number of ‘forest-forming’ macroalgae) has been described as an ‘ecosystem engineer’, a wonderful term that perhaps, rather simplistically, may be described as any organism that creates or significantly modifies habitats. However, it is the unseen benefits provided by these kelp forests that extensively fringe the west coast here that make them so important. The most apparent benefit of beach cast tangle (as well a few other seaweed species) is that it is traditionally collected from beaches after winter storms and utilised by crofters as a natural fertiliser for crops. The kelp Laminaria hyperborea, tangle, to give it one of its common names, is an incredibility important species, notably for these islands. Dulse also grows on rocks and mussels in the intertidal zone. These kelp plants live for up to 15 years and dulse tends to found associated with older specimens.

The stipes (‘stems’) of this important algae are often festooned with dulse, which has a ribbon-like appearance at this time of year, having been ripped and shredded by the force of stormy seas. So why, you may ask am I looking for kelp but intend to forage for dulse? Dulse ( Palmaria palmata) is a red seaweed that is epiphytic on several species of seaweed, notably the most abundant kelp found along the west coast of the Uists, Laminaria hyperborea. The holdfasts (‘root’) of living kelp plants still grip hard to the boulder substrate on which they are growing and are often thrown high up this beach during storms, well above the kelp zone, therefore making them easy to find.

On a sunny but very windy day, we combed our local beach for living kelp that had been cast ashore (as opposed to the masses of dead plants, detached and usually devoid of dulse). See also my review of Fiona’s fabulous last book ‘ The Forager’s Kitchen‘. The least I could do was come up with some ideas for Fi, Champion of Hebridean seaweed. I began thinking about recipe ideas, as possible contributions to Fiona Bird’s next book – based around culinary explorations with seaweed. It is not the best time of year to be collecting dulse – end of summer / early autumn is optimal, but where there is kelp, it can usually be found at anytime of the year. Given that we are on the cusp of renovating the house and in the process of packing stuff away to facilitate the incredible mess that will ensue, buying more kitchen gadgets, normally something I would be looking for an excuse to do, is not on the cards. I am slightly limited in my experimental explorations with seaweeds as I currently don’t have a dehydrator, a tool that would give me more flexibility in using seaweed as an ingredient. Dulse, however, I have discovered, does have significant merit as a distinctive ingredient that brings novel and intriguing flavour dimensions to a dish. Seaweeds, if not appropriately processed, carefully considered and balanced to be an integral part of a dish can fall into this category. This unique combination produced a sandwich of some distinction, well worth the effort to collect the dulse and time to brine the beef.Īs mentioned before, I am not a hardcore forager because in some respects, I don’t believe in tokenistic use of foraged ingredients. I have coupled this with my first attempt at preparing salt beef, using a fine quality brisket of Aberdeen Angus. It’s been a while since I posted a recipe that included the most obvious bounty on my doorstep – seaweed, in this case, dulse.

Proportional falloff blender not doing whole donut