What is Sea Asparagus?

Foraged & Founds' best-selling Sea Asparagus Pesto features a salty, crunchy succulent that can be found up and down the Southeast Alaskan coastline, usually at the mouths of ocean inlets where salty sea meets fresh mountain streams. The official name of this edible aquatic succulent is Salicornia, but it has many nicknames such as, beach asparagus, sea beans, pickleweed, glasswort, or samphire. Sea Asparagus is a delicate little sea vegetable that packs a big punch when it comes to nutrition and health benefits. Foraged & Found is thrilled to see this superfood cropping up on menus around the country, and we are blessed to be able to harvest it for use in our products!"

Harvesting Wild Sea Asparagus

Wild harvested aquatic plants like sea asparagus are central to the flavors and nutritional profiles of our pickles, salsas, sauces, and pesto, and provide trace minerals not often found in soil-farmed foods. Sea asparagus grows in massive, gregarious fields near the water's edge. We harvest sea asparagus by hand to ensure that we maximize the amount of product we can use while still doing no harm to the plant. This requires getting down on our hands and knees with tiny knives and scissors to snip each tasty stalk at its base, near the earth, but above the plant's rhizome-like root ball. Foraged & Found works with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to monitor the sea asparagus beds that we utilize, and each harvest is conducted using a Commissioner's permit. Incorporating sea asparagus into our pesto is certainly a meticulous labor of love--but we think you'll agree that the taste makes it worth our while! 

Nutritional Benefits of Sea Asparagus

Wild Alaskan Ingredients are simply super-charged superfoods that you'll find nowhere else on Earth! Comprised mostly of complex-carbohydrates and low in fat and calories, sea asparagus is definitely a winner! It is particularly high in A, C, and B-complex vitamins and source of calcium, iodine, and iron. Salicornia also contains a large amount of folic acid which helps make healthy red blood cells that carry oxygen around the body. It is also one of a few foods that naturally contain TMG, a super antioxidant used to enhance athletic performance and improve heart and liver health.

Photo courtesy of Pamela Gelsomini of Dish off the Block.