Email Christmas came early for Dr Prannie Rhatigan, whose belief in the health benefits of eating seaweed has paid off in style. The Sligo doctor took a festive gamble and published her own book on the benefits of using seaweed in your kitchen at Christmas.
She beat off stiff international competition to scoop a prestigious award at the Gourmand Awards, which are regarded as the Oscars of the food and drink sector.
Dr Rhatigan’s ‘Irish Seaweed Christmas Kitchen’ won the seafood Gourmand category at the Macao International Book Fair in China, which attracted food and drink entries from 216 countries.
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In her festive book, Dr Rhatigan is all about «mixing the good with the good for you» so there’s everything from seaweed porcini stuffing to mischievous cocktails laced with seaweed, such as brandied alaria to gin-soaked duileasc and carraigin. The book looks at honouring the customs of Christmas as we know them along the coast, culinary and otherwise, and fusing them with the even more ancient rhythms of the turning seasons and the use of edible seaweeds, says Dr Rhatigan, who integrates seaweeds into more traditional menus for Christmas day.
«There are clever ways of integrating seaweeds into more traditional menus for Christmas,» she says, like giving her mince pies, puddings and desserts a seaweed twist.
«Seaweeds are a powerhouse of nutrients and while they make food taste delicious, they’re also very nutritious. Introducing seaweed into your diet can have enormous benefits, from adding a pinch of bladderwrack or alaria to your smoothies to putting in soups and stews,» said Dr Rhatigan, who blogs on her website irishseaweedkitchen.
ie She has a lifetime experience of harvesting, cooking and integrating seaweed into our daily lives. Her first book, ‘Irish Seaweed Kitchen’, was published 10 years ago and helped kickstart the current pro-seaweed movement which moved along Ireland’s west coast and beyond. Celebrating the win back home in Streedagh, Co Sligo, Dr Rhatigan said the Christmas book was «a real labour of love which took 18 months of research, recipe testing, photo shoots, editing and proof reading, all carried out by a hard-working close-knit production team whose dedication has been rewarded by this prestigious award».Her passion for seaweed is year round and she runs excursions such as the Sligo Seaweed Experience along the county’s coastline. «There was stiff competition in China and it was beyond my wildest expectation to win,» said Dr Rhatigan, who is a GP and now works mainly in Public Health Medicine. «We had a stand which showcased Irish seaweeds and encouraged visitors to come to Ireland and experience the Sligo Food Trail as part of the Wild Atlantic Way.
«I was asked to speak on Irish seaweeds and to give a cookery demo at the Chefs Kitchen and many of the celebrity chefs there were pleasantly surprised at how delicious our seaweed tastes. The reaction has been amazing.»
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