Peanut Butter and Jellyfish

Photograph by David Doubilet in animals.nationalgeographic.com

Have you heard the news?  Jellyfish are taking over the world, well – maybe not the world…yet, but these menacing gelatinous predators are wreaking havoc on the oceans, and migrating toward shallow waters and beaches murdering fish and stinging swimmers along the way, sometimes to death.  An 8 mile wide pack of rogue jellyfish numbering in the billions invaded and destroyed a salmon farm in the Irish Sea stinging to death over 100,000 fish, reported the UK based Telegraph. Called the mauve stinger (Pelagia Nocticula), this tiny jellyfish gives off a purplish glow and favors warmer waters of the Mediterranean where it is fond of stinging unsuspecting tourists.  In Australia, the box jellyfish with tentacles that can grow up to 8 feet long is so venomous that its sting can kill a human in a matter of seconds.

In a Boston Globe article, Jellyfish invasions hint at oceans’ decline, Elizabeth Rosenthal reports that the rapid growth of the jellyfish population is thought to be in part due to climate change, overfishing of their natural predators, polluted waters and, according to Paul Eccleston of the Telegraph in his article killer jellyfish population explosion warning, their alarming genetic survival mechanism to reproduce in much greater numbers when threatened.  Yet, unchecked, the jellyfish could destroy all marine life and turn our oceans into a giant bowl of toxic jello.   What to do?Eat them!  You can find hundreds of recipes on-line from Dried Jellyfish and Turnips to Salted Jellyfish.  And I have some deliciously simple culinary ideas:  Peanut Butter and Jellyfish.   Jellyfish Jello.   Jellyfish Roll-ups.   Jellyfish and Chips.  And of course the plain old goodness of the Jellyfish Sandwich.  Waiter:  I’ll have mine on toasted Rye.  And could I also have  the pickled seafood platter – yes, the sea cucumber, pickled plankton and fried pickled jellyfish.   And to drink, I’ll just have a glass of Muscadet – make that a bottle!