Home › The Principles of Cookery › Laver, to Dress

Laver, to Dress

Laver is a plant which grows upon rocks near the sea-shore, and is valued on account of its anti-scorbutic qualities. It is generally boiled down to a jelly as soon as it is found, then potted, and sent to distant places for use. To dress it, put a pound into a bright stewpan with three ounces of fresh butter, squeeze over it the juice of a lemon or a Seville orange, and stir it with a silver fork until quite hot. Serve it as hot as possible, either over a lamp or a hot-water dish. The taste for laver is an acquired one. Instead of the butter a little gravy may be put into the pan, but lemon-juice should never be omitted. Sufficient for three or four persons. Probable cost, uncertain. To prepare fresh laver, which is in season from October to March, soak it in two or three lots of fresh water, an hour in each, to free it from salt; then boil it in hot water until soft and mucilaginous, strain through a sieve, add a few drops of lemon-juice, and serve very hot. It is especially good with roast mutton. The purple laver is considered superior to the green variety.