FOOD TREND: THE JELLYFISH

While academics and policymakers wring their hands over the food security of our nations and planet, there’s one foodstuff we’ll never be short of: jellyfish. Eaten by the Chinese for millennia and served as sashimi in Japan, the world’s warming oceans are increasingly replete with this under-appreciated animal. Fuchsia Dunlop, the leading writer on Chinese food, says: “Jellyfish has no taste at all. In China, it is prized for its slippery-crisp texture. The smooth hood of the creature, known as ‘jellyfish skin’ is usually cut into ribbons, dressed and eaten like a salady appetiser, while the frilly oral arms, known as ‘jellyfish head’, have an even crisper texture and are served as they are, with a sprightly vinegar dip.” Just make sure you can identify the edible species correctly: some, such as the Portuguese man o’ war, has tentacles so venomous that they can cause death.