“Ulva lactuca”, the new wave lettuce

Behind this intriguing name (a salad in the ocean?) and a little discouraging (wet lettuce may be soft) hides a very popular seaweed and even, it seems, the most consumed seaweed in Europe. It can be collected all year round, which partly explains its success. sea ​​lettuce, or Ulva lactuca, belongs to the Ulvaceae family and is found in the Atlantic Ocean, on the coasts of Brittany, but also in the North Sea, the English Channel and the Mediterranean. Looking a bit like a garden lettuce in a neon green version, it is a good idea to take a dish out of the ordinary and brighten up an omelet or a fish dish. It can be found in a fresh or dehydrated version in online grocery stores, such as Pourdebon.

Its advantages ? Its consistency, both firm and tender, and its polymorphic taste, which evokes iodine when it is raw, or sorrel when it is cooked (fifteen minutes in water). At the end of the summer, Amaury Bouhours, at the Meurice Alain Ducasse (Paris 1^er), seared it on the Japanese barbecue to develop its bitterness, obtaining a very nice contrast with the matured veal loin served on the side. And last winter, Baptiste Zwygart, cook at the Brasserie Dubillot, in the 2^e arrondissement of Paris, used it to refresh their braised and lacquered veal shank, accompanied by mashed potatoes with grilled bacon bits.