He has done it again. The Head Sevillian knows no other way to get the most out of the marine environment other than by finding new and revolutionary foods. Now the last feat of Ángel León with his team of Aponiente is a cereal from the sea that he has managed to harvest in what is already a world landmark. This innovative discovery is the result of a project that has managed to see a successful result with a superfood that even has a role in climate change. Here we tell you more details about this fascinating product.
The pioneer cultivation of seagrass
A few days ago the «Chef of the Sea»Announced the success they had achieved in the laboratory of their restaurant Aponiente in El Puerto de Santa María (Cádiz). But the truth is that this project began in 2017 with the intention of cultivating an autochthonous species that they found 14 meters deep in the Bay of Cadiz. It was about the seagrass. "It looked like a spike with a grain," the research team reminds EFE.
This plant favors a greater biodiversity in the ecosystem because it performs essential biological and ecological functions, according to scientists. For this reason so important is a wild species under the regime of Special Protection in areas where it is found naturally. They are several of Europe and also the coasts of the Spanish north. Live in wild prairies providing those ecosystem benefits.
But what is the problem? His alarming disappearance in regions where it was previously abundant due to the action of human beings with activities carried out in their natural habitat. Faced with this worrying context, Angel León He set out to do his bit in order to create a seagrass seed bank.
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So that? To make it possible repopulate wetlands coastal areas where this plant has been endangered. A pioneering project for its recovery and management with guarantees also to extract another gastronomic treasure: an interesting cereal from the sea that we describe later. Because yes, we are talking about a product suitable for human consumption.
Proven viability
The Aponiente team got down to work (or rather, the sea) and experimentally planted some 3.000 square meters of seagrass in the Natural Park of the Bay of Cádiz. An area near the municipality of port Royal that would allow a revolutionary food to be born. Because after three years researching and developing suitable systems for this plantation, for its sowing and its harvest, the work has paid off. The viability of cultivation adapted to the marine environment.
In this way, under controlled conditions, the challenge of achieving that cereal from the sea could be grown in areas of only saltwater has been reached. A feat never seen before on the planet as salty natural environments are unsuitable for agriculture. Something that wants to change Angel León making a true «marine garden»From which products that are now born on the mainland are obtained.
The cereal of the sea, a superfood
From the search for that food innovation but from the great pantry that is the sea, this product sown as if it were in a nursery terrestrial has even surprised the Aponiente team. “We did not expect this plant to acclimatise so well. It is a true milestone ”, the Andalusian chef acknowledged to EFE. Once it is collected, some grains are extracted from each spike that would be straddling the Quinoa and rice Traditional.
This cereal from the sea is a real superfood which until now was not considered as an ingredient for human consumption. Hence, the achievement of Ángel León is even greater, which has even led him to appear in a report by the prestigious Times magazine. Compared to other types of cereals, this grain contains a greater amount of high-quality protein (13%) and carbohydrates (82%).
Also its percentage of vegetable fats is less than 2%. In addition, it has vitamins A and E, which are not found in any other cereal, and even vitamins from the B Group in high concentrations. Along the same lines, Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids, amino acids, minerals and even a remarkable proportion of glucose make up the nutritional properties of marine cereal.
Sustainable and multi-functional
It is a product with great gastronomic value which is also born from a sustainable cultivation. It performs a variety of key functions to generate ecological, social and landscape wealth. In addition to what we have already commented before, it is very useful for the marine reforestation, its plantation requires less care because it does not even suffer from pests or diseases. Being a perennial plant it is more productive also than other types of cereals by not having to reseed it every season.
In short, seeing what you have discovered Angel León and your team, all are advantages with this cereal from the sea that begins to mark the path of that dream of the Andalusian chef. It is none other than converting the marine plant ecosystem into the cradle of great ingredients for the food of the future.
