Dulse, also known as dillisk, is a pretty and tasty red seaweed that grows on the northern coasts of the Atlantic and Pacific.

The use of dulse seaweed as food was first mentioned in writing 1400 years ago by an Irish monk. Today, dulse is primarily harvested and eaten in Ireland, Iceland, and the Atlantic coasts of Canada and the USA. These strips of dulse are not suitable for most blenders - better use our dulse flakes or dulse powder instead.

Dulse at a glance

Using dulse

What does dulse taste like? What does dulse smell like?

Dulse tastes salty (if you see any white secretions - that's salt!) and slightly nutty.

Our dulse, as is common practice in Ireland, is not totally dried, but just enough so it's shelf stable. (A customer described it as "tobacco moist".) Thus, the dulse remains tender and can be nibbled directly from the bag, no soaking needed.

Sometimes, dulse has a strong ocean scent, sometimes less so. As a minimally processed natural product, the dylse is subject to natural fluctuations. If you want to minimize the smell, you can store the dulse with the bag open. But be sure to read below our tips on storing dulse.

How can I eat dulse?

First of all, you don't need to wash the dulse. We even prefer it 'dry', straight from the bag.

You can peel the elongated leaves of the dulse from each other and tear them into thin, smaller pieces. Dulse can be enjoyed as a snack. Try a thin strip at first.

The combination of fruit and dulse is unusual but tasty, e.g. as a wrap for a dried apricot and a walnut. You can replace dried fruits and nuts as you like. Dates, almonds, Brazil nuts, raisins ... whatever you have at home.

You can also fry dulse in a pan to make crispy chips.

Dulse tastes good both in salads and with potatoes and pasta. In soups and similar dishes, dulse enhances the taste of the other ingredients.

Dulse is also suitable as an ingredient for baking, e.g. for a savory bread, such as laver bread, a Welsh specialty that is prepared with nori. In Iceland, people eat dulse with butter. In Ireland, dulse used to be served with beer.

Find more recipes here: https://brunnen.eichenhain.com/tag/dulse/

How do I store dulse?

Dulse should not be stored in the refrigerator. You can store dulse in two ways, depending on what you want to achieve:

If you want to keep it "fresh", as it comes out of the bag, then you can simply store it in the bag. It will slowly dry out because the bag is not as airtight as when delivered. This way it will keep at least according to the best before date and probably indefinitely.

If you want to let the dulse dry out a bit more (and thus, for example, reduce how strongly it smells), you can separate the fronds and just leave the pouch open. It will dry out pretty quickly. It will then also basically not go bad.

Tip: Seaweeds dry out quickly. But you can easily refresh the dulse: moisten the dulse with a plant sprayer or simply sprinkle some water onto the fronds. Then shake the dulse in a bag so that the water is evenly distributed. Let it stand for at least 20 minutes.

How much iodine is in the seaweed?

It is very difficult to specify an exact iodine content per 100g, as this can vary greatly. Our dulse is a wild-harvested natural product. The amount of iodine depends on the place of harvest, the time of harvest, the season, environmental influences, etc. The drying, storage, and preparation of the dulse also influences the iodine content.

We have also written something about iodine loss when cooking: https://brunnen.eichenhain.com/wieviel-jod-verlieren-algen-beim-kochen/

And for those who want a number regarless, a study in the blog post above talks about 97 micrograms of iodine per gram of dried dulse.

What else should I know about algae and dulse?

Dulse is a natural product. Depending on the harvest time (season), it will have a different colour or texture. Sometimes it will be very tender and salty, sometimes more firm. Occasionally, one may also find (larger) shellfish among the leaves.

If there are white spots on the dulse that look like mold, it is merely sea salt.

The dulse dries out over time. And in the process, salt is released. The salt looks like mold, but it is not. We had the same quetsion when we started out with algae. We turned to Manus, our algae harvester with many years of experience. He explained everything to us – and we are now passing on this knowledge to you.

You can easily test this yourself by placing a strip in water. The strip will not have any white residue after absorbing the water. With mold, there would still be residue. But not with salt. Besides, mold stinks. You will definitely know mold when you smell it.

If you taste the dulse, you will notice that it is quite salty. Because it is so salty and well-dried (but not so dried that it is no longer tender), we have had fewer cases of mold in over 10 years than you could count on one hand.

p.s. In a product image, you can see Manus harvesting. :-)