Mussels are found all over the world and they work well with a versatile list of ingredients from classic creamy French sauces to vibrant spicy curries. Like all shellfish, mussels need to be eaten exceptionally fresh and do need a bit of washing and preparation before cooking.
Mussels must be alive to ensure their freshness and their shells should be closed to make sure they are alive. If any are open, they should close when tapped or squeezed. When looking at a big batch in the fishmongers, avoid buying them if lots are open. Watch our video on preparing and cooking mussels :. This easy one-pot supper gives a delicious British twist to a French classic. Swap your wine for a punchy cider and whip up this deceptively simply dish. Serve with crusty bread for mopping up the sauce.
Mussels that were harvested from contaminated water sources carry an increased risk of infection and chemical poisoning. Research by scientists at the U. Fish and Wildlife Service in Raleigh, North Carolina, published in "Environment, Toxicology and Chemistry" in October shows that contaminated waters containing high levels of copper, chlorine and ammonia were found in three drainages that affect freshwater mussels in North Carolina. The levels of contamination vary by drainage and location.
Knowing the source of mussels prior to your purchase can reduce your risk of any potential health problems. Consuming mussels contaminated with heavy metals, such as mercury, cadmium or lead, can increase the risk of neurological damage and birth defects. Research by scientists at the Instituto Espanol de Oceanografia in Murcia, Spain, published in the "Journal of Environmental Monitoring" in May found significant differences in heavy metal concentration in mussels along coastal waters in the Western Mediterranean Sea.
Grigson's book does give an excellent recipe for eclade de moules, a mussel barbecue from the Ile d'Oleron in France in which mussels are laid out on a wet plank and covered in pine needles that are set alight to cook the shellfish. A late friend once wrote a poem in which she postulated that you could plant a brassica on the Nullarbor Plain and a bloody cabbage moth would somehow find it.
Cabbage moths love brassicas. Always have. The Romans noted this. They even identified a plant on which the cabbage moth eggs were laid. Caterpillar in Latin is eruca , so they named the plant eruca as well. Caterpillar plant. As the plant went over the Italian alps it became rocchetta. When it got to France it morphed into roquette. In England, this was anglicised to rocket. The Americans, as we are all too aware, have a different lexicon.
There never was any reason for it. Because the adductor breaks down and turns loose the shell. Why do some mussels open sooner than others, when cooking? Now, remember when I kept hinting that James Peterson had another, more practical reason for saying to cook the mussels until they were opened? The reason is simple. If you do not, some of the mussels that you open with a knife, although they will pop open easily, will not be sitting pretty on one half of the shell, but will remain clinging to both halves, and may even tear.
You then have to dig at it a bit and mussels usually come right off the shell with very little effort. He also mentions looking for any mussels that are open but still attached to both shells and cooking further. This could only happen if the muscle tore or separated without detaching from the shell, I would think, and I would not engage in further cooking for this reason, as it would only serve to over-cook the mussels.
I could be wrong, of course, as Peterson is much more of a cooking expert than I will ever be. So, cooking mussels until they open, was probably nothing more than a practical thing to some, whereas to others, it became a proof that the mussel had been alive. Of course, this is dead wrong. The response of a mussel to any kind of threat is to close up tight. So, you see, there just was never anything to it at all.
Mussels open, most of the time, when cooked, because the muscle that holds the shell close breaks down and detaches from the shell, allowing the tension of the more resilient tendon to pull open the shell. Now that you know, you can stop wasting mussels! We all want to be sure that our mussels are good, of course. Plus, some advice from Michael Bacash, a seafood chef in Melbourne, is recounted in the report. Besides mentioning that fresh mussels will close their shells when tapped, he says checking a mussels weight and smell before cooking are the best tests you can do.
The freshest mussels, besides being closed, will be full of water. He says to push the shells sideways in opposite directions.
Any dead mussels will open and fall apart in your hand. He seems to have missed the memo. I still love the guy. You ever seen frozen mussels? You can get them in boxes already with butter and garlic sauce, ready to drop in a pan and cook up. I know foodies will sneer and turn their nose up but I think they are okay in a pinch. Guess what, frozen to death mussels open further when you cook them although they are already cooked at least partially.
So, anyway…. The only problem to me, with frozen prepared mussels is that the sauce needed white wine to get that classic steam mussels taste. Well, here is your recipe. You can play around with different herbs, but really what you want is some nice seasoned and grilled crusty bread to go with it.
You know, to dip in the sauce. Oh, one more thing before the recipe. You may be wondering on how many mussels you need for you and your friends. It depends of course on if you plan to eat nothing but mussels or the mussels are just an appetizer.
For a main course you want at least 1. Put the wine, shallots, and garlic into a deep stockpot and simmer, covered, over low heat for five minutes. Add the mussels all at once and cover, raising the heat to high. Boil for two minutes and, using a pot holder or towel to secure the lid, shake the post to redistribute the mussels in the broth. Steam for 2 more minutes, then check to see if most of the mussels are open. Try to keep the cooking to 4 to 6 minutes.
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