By Cinda Chavich
Chef Paul Moran of 1909 Kitchen in Tofino created an entire menu featuring seaweed in every course for the Seaweed Fest. Try his potatoes, cooked in salty seawater with seaweed salsa verde, with grilled salmon.
Salsa Verde:
• 2 bunches Italian parsley, chopped
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 2 tbsp sherry vinegar
• 100 g fresh nori or other seaweed leaves
• 500 ml cold-pressed virgin canola oil
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 3 tbsp minced shallot
Potatoes:
• 2 lb new potatoes with skins,
washed
• Spring greens or herbs to garnish
In a blender, combine parsley, mustard, vinegar, seaweed, canola oil, salt and pepper and purée until you have achieved the texture of a pesto. Then incorporate shallot by hand with a spatula. Store in the fridge until needed.
Cover the potatoes in seawater and bring to a boil. Cook until tender, drain all but 150 ml of the water and reduce in the pan until dry and potatoes have become coated in sea salt. Hold potatoes in a warm oven before serving; they will become concentrated and wrinkled.
Place some of the salsa verde on the bottom of the serving plate, and then arrange the potatoes on top. Garnish with your favourite spring greens or herbs from the garden.
Serves 4 to 6.