The 4th annual statewide food and drink festival Seaweed Week begins April 22nd, 2022, and will run until May 1st, 2022. Celebrating Maine’s kelp harvest, Seaweed Week will feature special events, one-time-only menus and limited-edition items from local bars, restaurants, brewers, bakers and more.
The kick-off party will take place at Oxbow Blending & Bottling located at 49 Washington Avenue in Portland from 5 PM -9 PM and will include a special beer launch from Oxbow: Saison Aquatic a Farmhouse ale with sea salt and sugar kelp from Heritage Seaweed, and Garden Party a Farmhouse ale with heather, sweet gale, sweet annie, pineapple sage, conditioned with raspberry honey and Brettanomyces, in collaboration with Cambridge Brewing Co in Massachusetts. In addition to the beer launch, the night’s events include a seaweed demo, seaweed food specials from Duckfat Frites Shack, and music from DJ HiDuke.
Events will be taking place all week throughout Greater Portland. To view the full list of events head here.
Why Seaweed?
Many reasons! Seaweed is not only a delicious and versatile dish enriched in essential amino and antioxidants, but it is also good for the ocean and the working waterfront, can feed the world, and is environmentally friendly.
Broken down a little bit further:
- Delicious and Versatile: North Atlantic Kelp, Kombu, Wakame, Sea Lettuce, and Irish Moss species represent a wide range of flavors and culinary uses. And if kelp is the new kale, dulse is the new bacon.
- Happy Oceans: Seaweed creates a habitat for baby lobsters and other marine life. It also sequesters carbon, creates oxygen, and reverses ocean acidification.
- Working Waterfront: At a time when Maine’s traditional waterfront jobs face multiple pressures, lobstermen are turning to aquaculture, a way to augment their unsteady income.
- Health Benefits: Typically, seaweeds have 10x more minerals than land-based plants. Plus vitamins, essential aminos, and antioxidants. Oh, and it’s where fish get their omegas.
- Feed The World: The world needs 50% more food by 2050, with increasing droughts and poor soil. Seaweed is one piece of the global food-security equation.
- Maine = Awesome: Maine is leading the way in a trend that saw US seaweed products increase by 76% between 2011 and 2015. Let’s support these local innovators.
- Shellfish Love: Oyster and mussel growers are adding kelp farms to their operations because beneficial halo effects make their shellfish stronger, healthier, and tastier.
Participating Restaurants and Bars:
The list is long! Here’s a quick rundown of a few of the participating restaurants in Portland:
- Blyth & Burrows
- Luke’s Lobster
- Maine Oyster Company
- Liquid Riot Bottling Co.
- SoPo Seafood Market & Raw Bar
- Maine Craft Distilling
- Wayside Tavern
- Regards
- Sur Lie
- Helm
- Norimoto Bakery
- Mr. Tuna
- Thirsty Pig
- Boone’s Fish House
… and more! For the full list head here.
Seaweed Week is presented by Heritage Seaweed, North America’s premier seaweed specialty shop located in Portland at 61 India Street.
