My first mouthful of seaweed was when I was eight years old. That rotund rascal raced from sand to surf only to be sent tumbling at the kelp hands of the sea. I came up looking like a kombu Cousin It. In those days, that obnoxious ocean weed was the last thing we’d consider eating. However, in many cultures, particularly throughout Europe and Asia, it’s integral to the cuisine. Nori roll anyone? In fact, it’s a $6 billion global marine crop and, if you’re talking biomass, it’s bigger than any other aquaculture.

Of course in Australia, culinary speaking, seaweed has long been about as alluring as yours truly in stilettos on a Saturday night. Wait, what? But, we’ve changed and so have our attitudes to seaweed.

In a rare meeting of academic and culinary minds, marine biologist Pia Winberg and chef Jared Ingersoll (of Danks Street Depot fame) have joined forces to form Phyco Food Co, Australia’s first commercial farmed seaweed product.

Over the past 15 years Pia has been researching sustainable fish farming and at every juncture seaweed proposed a solution. In fact, seaweed is the ocean’s mop – cleaning up the muck and giving back to the environment.

There are as many seaweeds as there are plants in the soil, but Pia has found that Australian ulva (a sea lettuce) not only promises great culinary and health applications, but is a fast-growing sustainable option, too.

So, I jumped in the car with Jared and headed to the New South Wales South Coast to meet Pia and explore the facilities. “When I first met Pia, she opened a bag of ulva and I was completely overwhelmed by this pungent, enticing bouquet. It was like opening a bag of truffles,” says Jared.

Pia’s base smells more ‘rock pool’ than ‘science lab’. Rows of beakers house the ulva mother stock until they’re large enough to be taken to outdoor pools. At 25m in length, these pools can hold up to 100kg of seaweed. “Just one hectare of land can produce 100 tonnes a year, 20 times that of wheat,” says Pia.

The ulva feeds on food-grade carbon dioxide sequestered from wheat fermentation. It’s waste that would otherwise enter the environment. It is clear that seaweed provides an ecological service and farming it can produce a net environmental benefit. Not to mention it’s jam-packed with trace elements, protein, dietary fibre, omega 3 and iodine.

Enough of the white coat rhetoric. Is it tasty?

To find out for myself, I headed back to Sydney and to Eveleigh Markets, where Jared runs a food stall selling its virtues. Dried and milled into a powder, the ulva is ideal as a seasoning in batters, noodles, pasta, dressings, and even risotto. Green eggs and ham? Why, yes you can. Jared dishes up wakame-braised pork belly with a 63ºC slow-cooked egg seasoned with powdered ulva. Suddenly I’m eight again, only this time the umami embrace of this Australian ulva is tumbling around my mouth and tantalising my tongue. It’s bacon and eggs in its finest hour. Is this the future of food? It’s natural, sustainable and delicious too. That’s a fair start.

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