On Food and Cooking

families share a basic salty-savory taste from
concentrated minerals and amino acids,
especially glutamic acid, which is one of the
molecules used to transport energy from one
part of the seaweed to another. Seaweeds also
share the aroma of dimethyl sulfide, which is
found in cooked milk, corn, and shellfish as
well as in seacoast air. There are also
fragments of highly unsaturated fatty acids
(mainly aldehydes) that contribute green-tea-
like and fishy overtones. Against this common
background, the three families do have
distinctive characters. Dried, the red seaweeds
tend to develop a deeper sulfury aroma from
hydrogen sulfide and methanethiol, as well as
flowery, black-tea-like notes from breakdown
of their carotene pigments. When fried, dulse
develops a distinct aroma of bacon. Some red
algae, including the limu kohu of Hawaii
(Asparagopsis), accumulate compounds of
bromine and iodine, and can have a strong
iodine flavor. The generally mild brown