The market · Fish and seafood · Northern and Central Europe, Southern Europe
Mussels
Sweet, briny bivalves, mostly rope-grown, that cook in minutes with wine, garlic or cream.
briny · oceanic · sweet
at its peakWhat to do with it
Kenji Hara's Sourdough, 100% ryeMussel would give it depthIbu Sari's Beef rendangMussel would give it depthRosa Ibarra's Clarified milk punch, mezcal and pineappleMussel would give it depthMira Kowalski's Pierogi ruskieMussel would give it depth
NormanMoules à la normandeMussels steamed open in cider with shallots and butter, the juices finished with crème fraîche.No one here has made it yetNormanSole normandeSole poached in wine or cider and fish stock, garnished with mussels, prawns and mushrooms, in a sauce of the reduced liquor with cream and egg yolks.No one here has made it yetNormanMarmite dieppoiseChannel fish and shellfish — sole, scallops, mussels, prawns — cooked in a broth of leeks and white wine or cider, finished with cream.No one here has made it yet
Kinds
- Rope-grown
- Cleaner shells, few barnacles, little grit.
- Wild
- Often bigger; more cleaning.
Goes with
Knowing it
- Where to buy
- Live, tightly closed and smelling of the sea. Cook them the same day.
- Worth knowing
- Throw away any that are cracked, or open and won't close when tapped. Pull off the beards just before cooking.
Kitchens that keep it in
Galicia — Spain's green, rainy north-west corner, on the Atlantic above PortugalGalicianSpain's great seafood coast — octopus, mussels, scallops and barnacles — with a green, rainy inland of pork, turnip tops, soft cows' milk cheeses and pies baked to share.6 classicsNormandy — north-western France, along the Channel from the Seine to Mont-Saint-MichelNormanButter, cream, apples and the sea: orchards turned into cider and Calvados, pastures into Camembert and Livarot, and shellfish and sole from the Channel.9 classics