How and when agar was discovered

Seaweeds have been used for centuries in Japan for the preparation of dishes and, as is often the case, the discovery of their gelling power is not without legend. To find the earliest data on the use of their particularities, we must go back to 17th century Japan. 

It is said that during the journey of a Japanese emperor and his entourage, they got lost in the mountains during a snowstorm. They found a small inn to take refuge where the innkeeper, Minora Tarazaemon, served them food, specifically a seaweed soup. Some of this soup was left over and during the night it gelled. The next morning, the innkeeper found that it had turned into a jelly and realized the gelling power of the seaweeds with which he had prepared the soup. But not only that, when he boiled the jelly again with more water, he discovered that it turned back into soup. Due to this legend, agar is called Kanten or “frozen heaven” in Japan. From this moment on, it began to be commonly used in cooking and its use spread throughout the environment. Traditional Chinese medicine began to attribute a large number of beneficial effects to it: laxative, detoxifying, helps to lose weight, and aids intestinal transit. 

Subsequently, European merchants saw the possibilities of this product in the food industry and began to expand its use throughout Europe. And so we arrive at 1881, when Fanny Hesse, the wife of Walther’s wife, suggested its use as a gelling agent in the cultivation of microorganisms, becoming an essential element in clinical diagnostic media to this day.