Laverbread or ‘bara lawr’, even known by some as Welshman’s Caviar, is prepared from laver, an edible seaweed (Porphyra umbilicalis). It is predominately found on the Welsh coast though also up the west coast of England and Scotland and on the East coast of Ireland. However don’t think you could go foraging to make your own. It is a long laborious process and best left to the Taffies who have been at it since the 17th century. Luckily you can buy it canned.
It is heavy in iron and iodine so goes well with oysters or, traditionally in Wales, cockles. Rolled and coated in oatmeal it is fried for breakfast.
Laverbread and cockle patties
Ideally you should have Penclawdd cockles but Leigh-on-Sea ones are most excellent. Canned are adequate if you can’t get them fresh.
200 gm canned laverbread
- 200 gm canned laverbread
- 80 gm oatmeal
- 200 gm shelled cockles
- 1 egg
- a small bunch of parsley, finely chopped