Zeekraal

Sea kraal is a lovely, healthy Zeeuws vegetable. It looks like a sort of cactus without the prickles. It grows on bare spots and at the edges of marshes. Sea kraal is often the first plant that colonizes bare places.

Individual plants hold the fine drifting materials and make sure that plants grow on the marshes. It is one of the first plants to appear and grow quickly and there is masses of them. Because this plant actively absorbs salt, it has a very salty taste. It is also full of vitamins it picks up from the surrounding sea water. Sea kraal is an annual self seeding plant. To germinate sea kraal seeds need fresh water. A lot of rain in the early spring is a necessity for a good production. Sea kraal can be harvested from the middle of May to the beginning of September.

3 tips to prepare sea kraal:

- Blanche the sea kraal in boiling water for a few minutes, drain an serve hot with o knob of butter.
- Cool the sea kraal after blanching under cold running water and use in a salad.
- Stir fry the vegetable for a few moments with finely chopped onion in a little butter.

Recipe for Red bass with sea kraal

Ingredients:

- 3 deciliters of fish stock ( tablet of jar of stock)
- 2 fillets of red bass
- 150 gram sea kraal
- 15 grams butter
- 1 tbsp of cream fraiche
- Pepper and salt

Preparation:
Bring the stock to the boil, lay the fish in the stock, cook for 8 to 10 minutes until done. Wash the sea kraal and remove ugly bits. Warm the butter and cook the sea kraal in it for about 4 minutes. Stir in the cream fraiche. Add salt and pepper to the fish after straining and place it on the sea kraal.