Agar was the first phycocolloid discovered and prepared as a purified extract. According to a Japanese legend the original manufacturing method of agar was discovered in the middle part of the 17th century, presumably in 1658. “A Japanese officer in the winter of that year arrived at a little inn. The innkeeper Minoya Tarozaemon ceremoniously received him and offered a traditional seaweed jelly dish as dinner, which was prepared by cooking Gelidium sp. with water. After dinner the surplus jelly was thrown outdoors by the innkeeper. The jelly was frozen during the night, and thawed and dried in the sun, leaving on several days a white, porous and dried substance. Tarozaemon found this soft substance and boiled it in water. On setting, he obtained a whiter jelly than the original one.” The method of agar manufacture was accidentally discovered!