[Sca-cooks] Agar-Agar

[Christine Seelye-King]

> OK, now I'm confused. Is this anything to do with agar agar, the Asian
> gelatin-like product? (popularly used in dessert)
> Ciao
> Lucrezia


	Yes, agar is the same thing as agar-agar.  It is a smelly red seaweed that
is beaten and dried into transluscent cakes.  It is then either sold in the
cakes, or flaked or ground into a powder.  It is used as a thickening agent,
the culture medium in petri dishes, a laxative (by adding bulk to the diet),
and also as an agent to remove radioactive and toxic pollutants from the
body.
Christianna