Common name: Peru: Aracanthus, palo blanco. Chile: Palo que huye, vara que huye.
Distribution and Biology: This species is endemic to the eastern Pacific coast of the Southern Hemisphere, with a range between 14° and 40° latitude. It inhabits rocky, exposed, and semi-exposed subtidal environments. It forms isolated forests at depths ranging from 4 to 25 meters. Its bathymetric range is variable and depends on predation pressure and wave exposure at the upper limit, and on the availability of stable substrate and the slope of the rocky seabed at the lower limit. This species, like M. pyrifera, is considered a keystone species in benthic ecosystems, where it plays an engineering and structuring role (JONES et al. 1994, 1997), enabling the coexistence of a large number of invertebrates, fish, and plants. Its morphological structure includes an attachment disc, from which one to five stipes emerge; each stipe branches dichotomously and has at least two lamellae. These are flat, broad, smooth, and lanceolate, with smooth and sometimes serrated margins. Adult plants can reach over 2 meters in length.
Applications: The harvesting of this species is primarily a traditional craft, of unique importance to the rural areas involved in this activity, as it generates employment and socioeconomic well-being for a large number of families. It is mainly used in the extraction of alginates. Sodium alginate is a polysaccharide derived from brown algae. While it can be used as a thickener, its most notable function in modern cuisine is to enable spherification. Alginate dissolved in a liquid mixture reacts rapidly with another calcium-rich liquid (such as calcium chloride or gluconolactone), solidifying very quickly and creating a highly stable and resilient structure. For example, imagine we’ve prepared a fruit syrup in which we’ve dissolved alginate. If we take a spoonful of syrup and gently dip it into a mixture of water and calcium salts, within a few seconds the contact surface between the syrup and the water solidifies, forming a sphere. The edges of this sphere will have a texture similar to that of a gummy candy, while its interior remains liquid. When a diner places one of these spheres in their mouth, they experience an explosion of flavor, as the pressure from the tongue causes the sphere to burst, releasing the liquid—in this case, the fruit syrup—into the mouth. Spherification can be performed with both sweet and savory ingredients.
Depending on how we use the alginate, we refer to: Direct spherification, when the alginate is mixed with the product we are going to consume (as in the example of fruit syrup). Reverse spherification, when the alginate is added to the aqueous solution in which the product to be spherified is subsequently immersed. Sodium alginate should be added in a fine layer to prevent clumping. It should then be mixed vigorously, preferably with a hand-held electric mixer. Once added to the food (direct spherification) or to the bath (reverse spherification), it is important to let the mixture rest for at least 1 hour in the refrigerator before beginning to form the spheres. A dosage of approximately 4 grams of alginate per liter is generally used. It is important to note that spherification does not occur properly in highly acidic mixtures with a pH below 3.8. In such cases, the pH must be raised using products such as sodium citrate. Visit our Spherification Recipes section to see what kinds of dishes you can prepare. Sodium alginate, as mentioned at the beginning, can also be used as a thickener. It is commonly found in ice cream, where it improves the texture and also acts as a stabilizer. Alginate comes in powder form and can be stored without any problems for long periods of time.
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