The nutritional benefits of edible seaweed impressed Bea Horacek so much that she adapted a Country Women's Association (CWA) biscuit recipe to include Yaki Nori and the Japanese spice blend 'Furikake'.
“Some of the potential for seaweed use is just incredible," said Bea, the agriculture and environment officer at Keiraville CWA.
"It may help with cancer and blood pressure amongst other things.
“Basically, there are three sorts of seaweed – red, green and brown. Some Aboriginal communities in Tasmania particularly used to harvest seaweed when the big storms came, and now we are actually farming it down the coast.
Bea is a supporter of all things environmental and, alongside her group members, has worked to inform the local community. She has written reports on everything from the 2000+ species of native bees to pomegranates, the green and golden tree frog and the varied uses of hemp.
Bea also recently gave a talk about an edible native spinach found all around the Illawarra Warrigal greens.
“Warrigal greens grow like a weed if you have it in the garden. It grows along the lakeside here, and you’ll also find it along the beaches," Bea said.
“You have to boil it because eating too much of it in its raw state wouldn't be good for you.”
Over the past five years, membership of the Keiraville CWA has almost doubled.
“When I first joined CWA Keiraville, about five years ago, there were about 30 of us," Bea said. "We have a particularly strong group, there are people joining all the time, so now there are around 55 people.”
Australia's CWA is 102 years old and has branches nationwide. Before moving to the Illawarra, Bea was the environmental officer at Kurrajong CWA and she has continued her work here.
“People tend to just think of CWA as the people who make scones, jam and cream, and we do an awful lot more than that,” she said.
“People don’t realise that CWA has a very big voice with the politicians. There’s a huge array of stuff that we do and things that we support – such as the Homeless Hub, visits to the nursing homes, preschools and organisations like Bush Heritage.”
Bush Heritage Australia is a not-for-profit organisation that works to restore and protect natural landscapes around the country.
“We had our centennial the year before last, and we wanted to think of something special we could do for Bush Heritage. So we wanted to donate 10 native plants to 10 local schools,” Bea said.
“We went to the Botanical Gardens to buy plants to donate, and ask to use their room to make the presentation. They came back to me and said that they’d like to donate those plants.
“Then I got to be on TV talking about it … the things you do when you’re with the CWA!”
CWA Keiraville meets every fourth Tuesday of the month at The Polish Club and new members are always welcome. For more information, call branch president Liz Corfield on 4285 8121 and follow the group on Facebook.
Thanks to the Keiraville CWA for sharing Bea's seaweed report; download the PDF here.
Bea's Recipe for Seaweed Biscuits
CWA NSW publishes magazines every other month, as well as cookbooks. Bea has adapted a CWA cookie recipe to include seaweed and sesame, two key ingredients in the spice blend 'Furikake'.
Makes 50 to 60 biscuits.
Ingredients
- 550g plain flour
- 175g butter
- Cold water
- Pinch of salt
- 1/2 cup almond meal
- 2 sheets Yaki Nori
- Furikake Japanese Rice Seasoning
Note: Find Japanese ingredients in the Asian section of your supermarket.
Method
Sift the flour with a pinch of salt into a bowl and rub in the butter until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
Add 1/2 cup almond meal and stir through. Crumble up 2 sheets of Yaki Nori and add to dough mixture. Mix through enough cold water to make a firm dough. Cover and set aside for 30 minutes.
Take small balls of dough and press into flattened rounds using the palm of your hand – about 5cm across. Place on an ungreased oven tray, then sprinkle on a good pinch of Furikake Japanese Rice Seasoning and press gently into dough.
Bake in a 180-degree oven for 15 to 20 minutes.