All about Laverbread
Laver (Porphyra) was the first seaweed I foraged and cooked. I remember my photographer friend Wendy Pye coming to visit me on my first Cornish Winter (2007). We traipsed up to the north coast and picked luscious looking laver from the rocks. I cooked it for hours and we had it on toast for breakfast. Wendy was one of my many guests that I experimented on and who helped me realise I wasn't mad for liking seaweed! This was before the more recent revival of interest and use in seaweeds here in the UK.
Laver has been eaten in Britain for centuries and records of its use go back to the 1600s. Yet the traditional breakfast of laverbread almost disappeared completely in the UK, with the except of certain coastal areas of Wales. Luckily this fantastic food is still growing wild and been eaten and enjoyed. Funnily enough, the same seaweed is used to make around 1 billion nori sheets annually in Japan. See my Nori, Rye, Buckwheat and Oat Cracker recipe to find out more.
How to Cook Laver
Laverbread refers to laver seaweed cooked for hours so it reduces down to a black pulp. Also known as Black Gold and Welshman's Caviar, these names speak of how highly laver was prized as a food.
Instructions for cooking laver advise simmering for 2-12 hours and letting the water boil off. When I first cooked laver I didn't want the saucepan to boil dry (and burn) so I ended up with excess liquid. Not ideal, but great for using in stocks, stews and soups! Laver can also be cooked in a pressure cooker in less time or in a slow cooker overnight. Both these methods will save your saucepans from boiling dry!
I also share how to cook laver and a recipe for incorporating it into bread in my seaweed book which has 16 seaweeds in and more information about laver, including where it likes to grow and different species.
The Goodness in Laverbread
Laver seaweed contains high amounts of protein, B12, magnesium, iron and vitamin C. It also contains calcium, iodine, zinc, B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B9 and good traces of many other vitamins and minerals. Laverbread is good for you!
If you're not able to harvest it yourself, you can buy laverbread either freshly made in some Welsh delicatessens or in tins. The tinned stuff is just as good, often cooked in sea water, it has the perfect taste and texture. I've bought several tinned ones before and loved them!
How to Make Laver Cakes
This is a classic laver recipe which consists of bacon, bacon fat, laverbread and oatmeal. It was traditionally served at breakfast, but is rather nice as part of an evening meal too.
- Ingredients
- 5 slices of streaky bacon
- 150 g laverbread
- 40 oatmeal (or oats powdered)
Fry the strips of bacon in their own fat, remove from the pan and finely chop. In a medium bowl combine the bacon, laverbread and enough oatmeal to bind the mixture. Shape into 'cakes' or patties about 2 cm thick and fry in the bacon fat for about 2 minutes on either side. Eat on their own or as part of a meal.
16 comments on “All about Laverbread”
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Tags: bread recipe, edible seaweed, homemade laverbread, Laver, nori, porphyra species, winter foraging
There's a traditional recipe from the Isle of Barra which uses laver. The dish is called "slokan" which is an anglicised spelling of the Gaelic for laver, slòcan.
To avoid the saucepan going dry, the recipe (Scots Kitchen, F. Marian MacNeill) gives the following instructions: Put the sloke (laver) in a pan with very little sea-water. Make it hot, withdraw it, and beat well; heat it up, withdraw it and beat again; and continue this process until it is reduced to a pulp. Do not let it cook. Add salt, pepper and a little butter. Serve hot with mashed potatoes round it.
Thanks for sharing Steven. So good to draw on all this history and knowledge behind us.
Hello Rachel, I collect laver, rinse it many times, dry it out in the sun and just eat it as a snack. Do you see any problem in this? everyone seems to recommend cooking it for hours.
No. You can do that. Toasting it will probably give you better access to the nutrition.
does laver bread go off
Yes course. Freshly made laver bread can go off the same as any food stuff. Is that what you mean?
can laver seaweed be a cure for parkinsons as my wife as had this complant since 2019 alan
I am not a medic and have not heard of, nor can claim any just results
Hey Rachel,
Great article. Do you have info on good places to forage laver in west Cornwall at all? Any good places near the Lizard ?
Hi Adam,
I don't share specific places - that would be taking the fun out of finding them! Also, what is ideal is that people use lots and lots of different sites to help protect the crop of seaweed. Enjoy the adventure and always pick sustainably x
How much Parsons laverbread should you eat to get the recommended 150mcg iodine please?
Hi Susanna, I suggest this is a question for Parsons. I recommend you get iodine from a variety of sources and the amount everyone needs varies depending on their body. It is not good to have too much either and amounts should be monitored in conjunction with certain medication or health conditions. Please consult a medical expert if needed.
Where can I buy Laver bread.
I live in St Blazey, Cornwall.
Hi Maureen, you can buy laver bread online, or it's sold in delis in Wales. I don't know of any places in Cornwall where it is sold, I make it myself!
Thanks for this, you have rekindled an idea that I should gather my own seawead. I have never cooked laverbread, (bara lawr in the Welsh language.) But I have been tempted to forage for it myself. So full of nutrients! Your write-up suggests that in Wales, laver bread is only eaten on certain coastal areas. Laverbread is eaten extensively in Wales.The first written account of seaweed being eaten was in Pembrokeshire was by Giraldis Cambrensis (Gerald of Wales) in the 12th century on his adventure around Wales. I suggest a visit to Cardiff and Swansea central markets where they go through large amounts of laverbread daily. It was a staple in my family as a child in Cardiff, and I buy a large punnet every week. A punnet is good for 3 breakfasts, or a snack on toast, if it lasts that long. Hahaha! As you mention, laverbread is packed with minerals and vitamins. It is the perfect food for vegetarians and vegans.
Thanks so much for sharing this Leigh. It's a fantastic food, bought or foraged.