IRISH MOSS
During the potato famine of the mid-19th century, thousands of beleaguered Irish saved themselves from starvation by eating the bushy seaweed known as Irish moss. They were following the example of many generations of hungry poor folk in their own land and in other lands that border the North Atlantic Ocean. It is an example that has been followed by many since, when hard times have given way to desperate measures. In more properous times, the same seaweed has served as an effective laxative and as a home remedy for sore throats and chapped skin. Irish moss is also commonly employed as a filler and extender of other foods. Also known as carrageen, from a village in southeastern Ireland where the seaweed is plentiful, Irish moss is found clinging to submerged rocks along the shorelines of Canada, New England, the British Isles, and Europe as far south as Portugal. Irish immigrants who found Irish moss growing on the rugged shores of Canada and New England were the first to gather and use it in America. Irish moss is harvested throughout the summer months by men in boats, who use rakes to gather the 2-foot-long stems from among the submerged rocks where they grow. Then workers rinse the curly red, purple, or yellow-green plants and let them dry in the sun for as long as two weeks, in the course of which the colors bleach to a grayish or yellowish white. The dried seaweed is soaked in cold freshwater until it swells back to its original bulk. Then it is boiled until it dissolves. The resultant liquid turns to a jelly as it cools, and it is this jelly that serves both medicinal and culinary purposes. It may be eaten as is, or it may be used as a thickener for soups and stews. Boiled with milk and sugar, it makes a tasty white pudding with a high mucilage content - a soothing food for people with sore throats. Irish moss is also used commercially as a stabilizing agent and thickener in chocolate milk, ice creams, baked goods, and other foods. Irish moss is also a soothing emollient, or skin softener, and is incorporated as an emulsifier into cosmetics and skin lotions. A useful demulcent and emollient, Irish moss is mainly taken for coughs and bronchitis. Its expectorant effect encourages the coughing up of phlegm, and Irish moss soothes dry and irritated mucous membranes. It is of value for acid indigestion, gastritis, and urinary infections such as cystitis. For these conditions Irish moss is normally combined with other appropriate herbs. Mucilaginous in texture and slightly salty in taste, Irish moss makes a valuable nutrient in convalescence. Applied externally, this emollient herb soothes inflamed skin. Irish moss also acts to thin the blood. It is also useful in treating wrinkles.
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