A type of Glasswort, sometimes called Sea Asparagus. From Wikipedia's entry on Glasswort: Samphire is usually cooked, either steamed or microwaved, and then coated in butter. After cooking, it resembles seaweed in colour, and the flavour and texture are like young spinach stems or asparagus, and despite its texture when raw, after cooking is not at all stringy or tough. Samphire is very often used as a suitably maritime accompaniment to fish or seafood.

Where to get Samphire
Comments

2007 Jan 28
I have never seen "Sea Asparagus" in Ottawa. It's available at grocery stores on the West Coast, and presumably also the East Coast. I liked it a lot and would love to be able to cook it at home.