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Chondrus crispus
Also called Carrageen, Carragheen, Irish Moss, Sea Moss
Irish moss (Chondrus crispus) is a small red seaweed that grows on rocky Atlantic shores of Europe and North America. It is harvested from the sea and used as a natural thickener rich in carrageenan, not grown as a garden plant.
Chondrus crispus—commonly called Irish moss or carrageenan moss (Irish carraigín, "little rock")—is a species of red algae which grows abundantly along the rocky parts of the Atlantic coasts of Europe and North America. In its fresh condition it is soft and cartilaginous, varying in color from a greenish-yellow, through red, to a dark purple or purplish-brown. The principal constituent is a mucilaginous body, made of the polysaccharide carrageenan, which constitutes 55% of its dry weight. The organism also consists of nearly 10% dry weight protein and about 15% dry weight mineral matter, and is rich in iodine and sulfur. When softened in water it has a sea-like odour. Because of the abundant cell wall polysaccharides, it will form a jelly when boiled, containing from 20 to 100 times its weight of water.
Chondrus crispus is commonly found along the shores of Ireland and the coast of Europe including Iceland, the Faroe Islands, western Baltic Sea to southern Spain. It is found on the Atlantic coasts of Canada and recorded from California in the United States to Japan. However, any distribution outside the Northern Atlantic needs to be verified.
C. crispus is traditionally used fresh as a thickening agent in carrageen pudding, a milk-based dish eaten in Scotland and Ireland.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Chondrus crispus by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
