P.E.I.'s culinary institute hopes underwater ingredient creates recipe for success

Tim McRoberts admits the focus group was a little skeptical, "courageous" even, when they were invited to the Culinary Institute of Canada to taste test foods such as chocolate, crackers and pasta made with a special ingredient — kelp.

But by the time they left, they were licking their lips and asking how to make the dishes at home.

"You would hear things like, 'That wasn't as scary as I thought it would be, was going to be.' Or, you know, 'That stuff tasted great.'"

McRoberts is the director at Canada's Smartest Kitchen, often referred to as the research and development arm of the Culinary Institute of Canada at Holland College in P.E.I.

Canada's Smartest Kitchen has been collaborating with the Nova Scotia Community College and the College of the North Atlantic in Newfoundland to see if kelp, a type of seaweed, can replace or supplement other vegetables in mainstream foods.

The research, which received about $2 million in funding through the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, suggests it can. And with that comes an opportunity for entrepreneurs to farm a new vegetable and develop new products.

Researchers processed the kelp in different ways, which included smoking, grounding and freeze-drying. (Aquaculture Association of Nova Scotia)

"The project would have been very different if we were in a constant struggle to take fresh kelp, process it and turn it into a food that's tasty and generally people liked," McRoberts said.

"That wasn't the case, the project would have been quite different, but it just wasn't the case. People were really happy with it."

McRoberts describes kelp as having a vegetal, "ocean-type" flavour. It is rich in nutrients and not a novel ingredient. There's dulse, for example, and anyone who has eaten sushi has probably tasted nori.

But McRoberts said they didn't want to simply replicate what was already in the marketplace.

"We wanted to use our R&D capabilities here to really see what could be possible."

So off to work they went. They processed the kelp in different ways. They smoked it, freeze-dried it and ground it up. Then they put it in energy bars, rigatoni, caramel ginger cake, crackers and dip, kombucha, a Clamato juice they called kelpmato, and even chocolate truffles.

"In the chocolates, what we found is it really gives a unique flavour that complements ... the sweetness and richness of chocolate," McRoberts said.

Pass the pasta sauce! Kelp was even used to make rigatoni. (Submitted by Canada's Smartest Kitchen)

When the project concludes in October, Holland College will be ready to launch three new ones funded by the council. Two will focus on upcycling seafood byproduct, with a third project focused on youth food insecurity.

McRoberts said the research creates a pathway to commercialization for farmers and processors because they wouldn't be starting at the ground floor — some of the initial work has already been done.

"As we look at farming, is there an opportunity to farm in the water ... with products that are naturally occurring there? Could it potentially take pressure off other areas that are feeling stress or could it be in addition to the other types of vegetables that we eat?"