Scots Cooking

Dulse Soup

Margaret Horn is a highly respected Scottish cook who has not wandered far from her roots. Born and brought up in Auchmithie, a tiny village nesting on the clifs three miles north of Arbroath, she and her husband have owned The But 'n' Ben since 1977. Because seaweed was part of her childhood diet, she has incorporated it into some dishes served at the restaurant. Dulse and tangles (kelp) are two of her favourite seaweeds and not only does she cook them, she also nibbles on them as she picks the seaweed whenever the tide is out. She uses tangles (laminaria digitata [vingerwier]) to wrap up haddock for steaming. The dulse (Palmaria (Rhodymenia) palmata [dulse]) is made into a simple soup, particulary in the winter months when it is tougher and less suitable for grilling. It is surprising how flavoursome this soup is, for no stock is used, but the pure flavour of the sea comes through in a pleasingly distinctive yet not overpowering way.
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Dulse used to be a well-known snack in local pubs, roasted or grilled and served with a splash of vinegar. Given the innate saltiness of any seaweed, this was afairly canny way of increasing thirst levels in the pub goer! The traditional way to grill dulse would have been to cook with a red-hot poker over the embers of a peat fire untill it turned green.
     Grilled dulse can be served with drinks instead of nuts or olives but it is also good as an unusual garnish on soups or pasta, or tossed over salads in the last minute. On the isle of Barra, it was often eaten as a relish with potatoes.