Samantha’s recipe corner
A traditional, centuries-old Welsh recipe, laverbread is a distinctive dish made from seaweed, which makes for a brilliantly salty breakfast ingredient. Hollywood royalty Richard Burton even termed it ‘Welshman’s caviar’.
Abundant along the shoreline of west Wales, laver seaweed was historically a popular food of the working classes. In a 1607 edition of his book Britannia, the antiquarian William Camden recalled encountering a bunch of Pembrokeshire locals gathering laver along the beach. During the 18th century, it became a classic component of miners’ hearty working breakfasts, fried up with locally picked cockles.
If you’re not near laverbread’s spiritual home of Swansea today, you can pick up a jar from the shelves of high-end delicatessens.
Laverbread can be eaten hot or cold – personally, I think eating it cold brings out the flavour better. Serve it with thick, well-buttered toast. Add cockles for the authentic Welsh taste.
INGREDIENTS 3 thick strips of bacon 2 tbsp of Laverbread 2 tbsp of oats 1 egg
METHOD
Heat a non-stick frying pan over a medium flame, then place the bacon in the pan.
Mix the laverbread and the oats in a bowl until the mixture combines. Season with salt and white pepper to taste.
Once the bacon is sizzling, add the laverbread to the pan. Gently flatten with a spoon into the frying pan, until you get your desired thickness.
Cook until bacon and laverbread cake are crispy, then add the egg. Gently cook until ready.
VERDICT
“A deliciously robust addition to a cooked breakfast – it will definitely set you up for a good day!”
Difficulty: 1/10 Time: 15 mins
Recipe sourced from The Pembrokeshire Beach Food Company beachfood.co.uk