Photo via Facebook / Mr. Dye's Pies
For the past decade, Mr. Dye’s Pies (8103 W. Tower Ave.) has satisfied sweet tooths throughout Milwaukee with quality scratch-made pies. This past year, owner Johnathan Dye introduced a new product, Irish Sea Moss Gel, which is becoming almost as popular as the pies.
Sea moss is a type of algae that grows along the Atlantic shorelines of Europe, North America and the Caribbean Islands. It can be reddish-purple or golden; online health and wellness sources concur that either variety is rich in minerals—92 of the 102 minerals the body requires—but there’s some debate over which one packs more nutritional punch. Sea moss gel has myriad culinary uses, primarily as a plant-based thickener for stews, smoothies and shakes. It can also be used topically for skin care.
Dye started making sea moss gel for his own use when he developed stubborn bronchial spasms toward the end of 2019. Dye, along with his 14 year-old son, added sea moss gel to their wellness regimen and found it to be an ideal natural expectorant. “It’s also anti-fungal, anti-bacterial and a good immune-booster because it is rich in iodine and zinc,” he notes. “Our standard American diets are so stripped of nutrients that our bodies are thirsting for them. This plant is loaded with them.”
The timing worked to his advantage, Dye says, since it was around February of 2020 that he was looking for ways to drive more traffic to his shop, tucked into an industrial area off north 76th Street. Around that time, coronavirus headlines began dominating the nightly news, thus driving a growing demand for immune-boosting superfoods.
Hand sanitizer was also scarce during the early days of the pandemic, and Dye realized he had a solution with his new product. “We made a crude hand sanitizer with our sea moss gel,” he says. “It was 30 percent sea moss gel and 70 percent grain alcohol. The vodka contained sanitizing properties, and the sea moss gel is nourishing for the skin. We sold it and also gave it away at the store.” Dye uses golden Irish sea moss sourced from St. Lucia. “It has a very mild, ocean-like taste to it, so we add the cinnamon for flavor. Cinnamon is also good for the cardiovascular system and can balance blood sugar,” he explains.
Dye says he takes two tablespoons of sea moss gel per day with his protein powder. It’s versatile and adds a unique, smooth texture to soups, porridge, hummus and sauces. Sea moss could also be a solution to get more nutrients into the diets of finicky eaters in the household. “Our sea moss gel can be sneaked into many foods; people would never know it’s in there,” he advises.
Topically, sea moss gel can be used a sore muscle or joint ointment, a purifying face mask or in bathwater. The minerals can be absorbed transdermally. Dye sells his Irish Sea Moss Gel along with his pies at his shop on Tower Avenue and at the Milwaukee Winter Farmers Market; the new Farmers Market 2210 (2210 Rapids Dr., Racine); and the Oconomowoc Winter Farmers Market. It’s also available at Rupena’s Fine Foods, Pete’s Fruit Market on Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive and Malicki’s Piggly Wiggly locations in Oak Creek and Racine. Pint-sized jars sell for $26.
Adding Irish Sea Moss gel has been good for business, Dye says. “People come in for sea moss and get pie, or they come in for pie and get sea moss. It’s been a great addition to what we do,” he concludes. “It ties in with our mission—we’re not really in the pie business, we’re in the helping people business, and this is another way we take care of people.”
For more information visit facebook.com/dyespies.
