This post was originally published on this site.
A cry for kelp
Coral might get all the attention, but humble seaweed is also desperate for protection. Found on more than a third of the world’s coastlines, kelp forests are declining by 1.8 percent annually, mainly because of climate change, so cultivating the crop is becoming the new flex for eco-minded hotels. Rosewood Miyakojima in Japan is planning to work with farmers to plant seaweed, an important part of the local economy; and at Norway’s Lilløy Lindenberg, food scientist Antje de Vries runs a pop-up Kelp Club that starts with her daily dives for sugar kelp, sea oak and dulse, and ends in a nine-course dinner using the foraged finds. Other seaweed warriors include Karolina Martinson, who takes guests of Kajkanten Vrångö hotel on seaweed and tapas tours of Gothenburg’s archipelago; and foraging expert Samuel Arnold Keane, who shares his passion for the plant in West Cork. “It’s exciting times for foraging—not just in recovering our cultural heritage, but igniting an approach to using seaweed in a new way,” he says. —O.S.
New year, new reads
Hooked by Asako Yuzuki, for more transgressive tales of food and obsession in contemporary Japan.
Son of Nobody by Yann Martel, for interlocking the ancient and modern via a retelling of the Trojan War.
My Year in Paris With Gertrude Stein by Deborah Levy, for a fictional pilgrimage to the eponymous poet’s Paris.
Land by Maggie O’Farrell, for the Hamnet author’s epic portrait of a family in 19th-century Ireland.
Queenie Is Working on It by Candice Carty-Williams, to check in with the protagonist a decade on.
Capture the castle
It’s set to be a golden year for British charity The Landmark Trust, which opens the gates (and lowers the drawbridge) to several revamped heritage stays across the UK. Its Elizabethan-era Tixall Gatehouse in Staffordshire, Cornish farmstead at Lower Porthmeor and moated tower at Laughton Place near Lewes are all due to reopen after major upgrades—following Saddell Castle in Kintyre’s refresh last summer—with new decor by head of furnishings and interiors, Rachel Allen. “My predecessor defined a look, which is important to preserve,” she says. “But I want to bring more warmth and comfort.” —Lisa Johnson
