This booklet is the outcome of scientific results, analyses and studies on some Mediterranean jellyfish species carried out at the Institute of Sciences of Food Production of the Italian National Research Council (CNR-ISPA, Unit of Lecce), combined with the spontaneous, creative and passionate interest of some Italian and international professional chefs to experiment jellyfish as a possible new food resource. Given the interest aroused in chefs and the general public, I believe this is only the beginning of a series of culinary ideas on this topic.
Based on scientific results, the new methodologies to process jellyfish for food and food ingredients, and the remarkable nutraceutical properties of some jellyfish components, could make real the possibility of their food use, even in Europe.
The creative spirit of professionals of the gastronomic art, supported by scientific knowledge we are developing, will make possible to consider a wider scenario of natural resources and to start a new era of environmentally-friendly food systems.
But together with this, and before this, it is necessary to reflect on the importance of basic science. Knowledge of the biology, ecology and behavior in the environment of organisms, or “knowing why”, also allows a more conscious applicative research, or “knowing how”. But the applied science is impossible – and unfortunately also dangerous – without a solid basic scientific knowledge
