Nori is the Japanese term for porphyra, commonly known as laver, which has been shredded and dried into sheets with a crisp texture. Porto Muiños borrow the term nori to refer to their fresh salted format of laver, a species of red alga which first appears a translucent purple but turns green when dried or cooked. While species of laver are widely cultivated in aquaculture operations, Porto Muiños rely on wild harvesting the seaweed on the Galician coast where it grows abundantly in the spring draped over rocks and mollusks. Eaten fresh in salads, as an accompaniment to sashimi and steamed seafood or a garnish for paellas, it has a cartilaginous texture and a mineral flavor followed by a subtle nuttiness. Toasted and flaked or powdered, it can be added to pan sauces, cream sauces and soups to provide salinity and complexity. This seaweed is fresh and salted. It should be rinsed for thirty seconds three times in cold water before being used in the kitchen.
A family company with two generations at work collecting wild seaweed from the Galician coast of northwestern Spain where the Atlantic meets the Cantabrian sea. Porto Muiños combine underwater diving with coastal rock harvesting when the tide is low to bring a variety of seaweeds to market through regulated and sustainable means and with great respect for the coastal ecosystem they inhabit.
