Seaweed-Fed Lamb: A Journey from Quảng Ngãi to Ninh Thuận

At Mont-Saint-Michel, one of France’s best-known sheep-raising regions, flocks of pré-salé sheep have symbolized the connection between land and flavor for centuries. They graze on coastal meadows regularly influenced by the tides, where salt-laden air and distinctive vegetation help give the meat its unique character.

Chef Alessio Rasom has been captivated by this story for many years. However, what interested him was not how to import those cuts of lamb into his kitchen in Vietnam. The larger question was whether Vietnam could create a similar story using its own ingredients, climate, and communities.

Quảng Ngãi: Where the Journey Begins by the Sea

Along certain stretches of Quảng Ngãi’s coastline, there are only a few short weeks each year when sargassum and gracilaria seaweed appear in sufficient abundance to be harvested. The seaweed season cannot be forced to arrive earlier, nor can it be made to last longer. Everything depends on the tides, sunlight, and the sea’s natural rhythm.

When seaweed season arrives, local people begin their day very early. At low tide, they make their way across rocky outcrops, harvest the seaweed by hand, and bring it back to dry beneath the central Vietnamese sun. Walking past the courtyards at this time of year, one can clearly sense the aromas of salt, minerals, and seaweed gradually concentrating in the sun and wind.

It is not only the scent of the sea. It is also the sign of a brief harvest season, when the harvesters’ experience determines the timing, quality, and how the ingredient is preserved after leaving the water.

It was in these seaweed-drying courtyards in Quảng Ngãi that the Seaweed-Fed Sheep project began.

Ninh Thuận: Where the Idea Was Put to the Test

Two years ago, one tonne of dried seaweed from Quảng Ngãi was transported to Ninh Thuận, where Si Dining partnered with a local sheep farm to begin the first trial season.

The seaweed was not added to the sheep’s diet in large quantities from the outset. The farmers introduced it little by little, giving the flock time to adapt to the new flavor and composition. Throughout the process, the team did not expect immediate changes, because anything involving livestock, ingredients, and flavor always requires time and observation.

The rest was left to the rhythm of life on the farm: Ninh Thuận’s weather, the sheep’s regular feed, the health of the flock, and the care provided by the people who worked directly with them. It was a slow process, but that very slowness helped the project remain natural. Rather than forcing the ingredient to produce a result, the team simply created the right conditions and observed how the different elements responded to one another.

The First Signals from the Trial Season

The flock adapted to the new diet better than the team had initially expected. According to observations from the first trial season, month by month, the texture and flavor of the meat began to show noticeable changes.

The meat seemed more tender, its natural sweetness became more pronounced, and the overall flavor gradually developed in its own distinct direction. These are only initial observations from the project, not final conclusions, but they are clear enough to encourage the team to continue their research.

The most important thing is not to make the lamb taste distinctly like seaweed. The goal is for the ingredient to participate subtly in the formation of flavor, much like the way climate, feed, and habitat shape the identity of a local product.

For that reason, the first trial season did not end with a complete answer. Instead, it opened up many new questions about feed ratios, raising time, consistency of quality, and how the flavor may continue to develop in the seasons to come.

The Second Season Begins, and 3.4 Tonnes of Seaweed Are Once Again on the Move

This year, the journey begins once again. As this article is being completed, 3.4 tonnes of dried seaweed are still on their way from Quảng Ngãi to Ninh Thuận to serve the second season of the Seaweed-Fed Sheep project.

A larger volume does not mean the process will be accelerated. On the contrary, it is an opportunity for the team to continue observing more carefully, compare different stages, and gain a deeper understanding of the relationship between diet, farming conditions, and ingredient quality.

This is why the project does not belong only to one kitchen or one chef. It is shaped by the participation of many communities along the path of the ingredient.

From Local Ingredients to a Distinct Culinary Language

Si Dining was built on the meeting point between Italian culinary technique and Vietnam’s natural ingredients. However, that meeting does not mean simply placing two cuisines side by side. It requires an understanding of ingredients, precision in technique, and enough patience for each component to express its true character.

The Seaweed-Fed Sheep project clearly reflects that approach. The idea may have begun with a story from France, but the process of development belongs to Quảng Ngãi, Ninh Thuận, and the people living on those very lands.

Rather than recreating an existing specialty product, Si Dining seeks to learn from the principle behind it: that flavor can be shaped by the relationship between land, feed, climate, and time. When that principle is placed in the context of Vietnam, the result does not need to resemble Mont-Saint-Michel. It only needs to carry the identity of the place where it is created.

And the Seaweed-Fed Sheep Journey Continues

We do not yet know where this story will lead us. But we do know that memorable flavors do not necessarily have to come from somewhere far away. Sometimes, they have existed around us for a very long time—in a brief seaweed season, on coastal rocky outcrops, or among the dry grasslands of central Vietnam.

All that is needed is enough time to notice them, enough curiosity to connect them, and enough patience to let the flavors tell their own story.

At Si Dining, every dish begins with an understanding of the ingredients and their connection to the place where they are produced. Italian culinary techniques provide structure and precision, while Vietnamese produce opens up new possibilities for seasonal creativity.

The Seaweed-Fed Sheep project is not yet a finished story, but it reflects the way we approach cuisine: beginning with curiosity, developing through collaboration, and allowing time to help shape the flavor.

Discover the seasonal menu at Si Dining and experience how familiar Vietnamese ingredients are reinterpreted through a modern and refined culinary language.