Laver is an edible red seaweed of the Porphyra group, the same laver algae used for Japanese nori, but in Britain it follows a wholly separate tradition: the washed fronds are boiled for hours to a soft, dark-green purée called laverbread (bara lawr in Welsh), a savoury, intensely marine spread eaten above all in South Wales — fried with bacon and cockles for breakfast, or rolled in oatmeal into little cakes.