Australian blue mussels are at their best between July and February. Readily available from fishmongers, it is not worth the risk collecting mussels yourself. Cultivated mussels are farmed in clean environments and benefit from the same nutrients as wild mussels, as well as the useful commercially operated purging processes, which remove most of the sand and grit from the shells before market. The flesh of mussels should be plump and very tasty. Like all shellfish, mussels are best consumed as soon as possible after harvesting, so local is best. Store fresh mussels loose in a large bowl under a damp cloth in the refrigerator for no more than a day or two.

General Rules for Preparation and Cooking Mussels

Allow 500g of live mussels in the shell per person for a main meal. Allow 250g per person for a starter course. You should buy an additional 500g or so of mussels to cover those being discarded. The most successful mussel dishes rely on small tender mussels with black shiny shells.

Do not clean the mussels until you are ready to cook them as the cleaning process will kill them. Throw away any shells which are open or broken. Live mussels with shells ajar will close when tapped firmly. Place the live mussels in a clean basin of cold water under a gently running tap. Swish them around, agitating the water by rubbing the shells together. Scrape and scrub the dirty shells. Remove any barnacles if you are serving the mussels in their shells. Firmly tugging downwards on the hairs protruding from the shell ‘debeards’ the mussel. Place the cleaned, debearded mussels in a separate basin of cold water as you go.

Whether your mussels are to be served à la marinière, au gratin, as a garnish, in a salad or an omelette, soup, risotto, or fried in batter, the system of cleaning is the same. Mussels only take about 5 minutes to cook, so you need to have everything ready, including the people you are cooking for.

Steaming mussels in their own liquid or a little white wine or water is the best way to cook mussels and this is the usual preliminary step to more elaborate dishes. You will need a large wide base pan with a lid (a wok is a useful device for cooking mussels). The mussels can be arranged in one or two layers in the pan if necessary. Place any aromatics with the mussels. If using wine or water, pour to a depth of 1 – 2 cm, cover the pan and place over moderate to high heat. The mussels will cook in as few as 2-3 minutes. Remove the lid from the pan after this time and move the mussels with a wooden spoon to distribute the heat evenly. You must remove each mussel from the heat once they open. Often there are one or two which refuse to open and these can be left a little longer after the others have been taken out, until they too open. Place the cooked mussels in a warmed tureen or dish and cover with cling wrap to retain the steam environment and stop them drying out. The top shell can be removed after cooking for a more elegant dish.

When the liquid created in the cooking of the mussels is to be incorporated into the recipe it should be strained into a clean pan through a piece of muslin or a fine wire strainer, as there is always a little sediment at the bottom, no matter how carefully they have been cleaned. You won’t usually need to add salt, but it is impossible to tell beforehand. Because the cooking liquid can be very salty you should taste it before adding salt to other components of any sauce you are making.

Once ready, pour the bubbling hot sauce over the mussels and serve at once. Be sure to provide plenty of bread, deep plates, forks to extract the mussels from their shells, soup spoons for the juice, napkins for each diner and a bowl for the empty shells. An Australian semillon or French muscadet are excellent wines to serve with mussels.

The following classic French and Italian recipes have been adapted from Elizabeth David’s ‘French Provincial Cooking’. All recipes rely on mussels being stored and cleaned in the manner outlined above.

Moules Marinière

There are several versions of Moules Marinière. Here is one of the simplest.

Ingredients (Serves 4)

• 2.5kg mussels, cleaned and scrubbed
• 750ml dry white wine or a mixture of white wine and water
• Chopped parsley
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, chopped

Method

• Simply arrange the mussels in the pan with the white wine or wine and water, over moderate to high heat and cover
• After a minute or two, remove the lid, move the shells around with a wooden spoon
• Throw chopped parsley, onion and garlic over them as they are opening and serve as soon as they are all open
• (Mussels, White Wine, Water, Parsley, Onion, Garlic)

Moules à la Normande (Mussels with Cream Sauce)

A more sophistocated version of Moules Marinière

Ingredients (Serves 4)

• Butter
• 1 shallot, cut into small dice
• celery leaves, chopped finely
• 1 small handful parsley, chopped finely
• 1 large glass cider or dry white wine
• 2.5 kg mussels, cleaned and scrubbed
• 200 ml cream

Method

• Preheat a large tureen or bowl, suitable for serving the mussels
• Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large wide pan
• Add the chopped shallot, celery leaves and parsley and stir for minute or two over moderate heat
• Add the wine or the cider and allow to boil for a minute
• Add the cleaned mussels, cover the pan for the first few minutes, then remove the lid and take out the mussels as they open and transfer them to the warmed tureen or bowl and cover with cling wrap
• Strain the remaining stock into a clean bowl, ideally through a piece of muslin or other thin, clean cloth, otherwise through a fine wire strainer.
• Return the stock to the pan, bring it to the boil and let it reduce by about half
• While the stock is reducing, add the cream to a small pan and bring it to the boil, so that it reduces and thickens
• Remove the empty shells from the cooked mussels
• Add the boiling cream to the mussel stock, and away from the heat, stir in a good lump of butter
• Pour this sauce bubbling hot over the mussels, add some chopped parsley and serve quickly
• (Butter, Shallot, Celery Leaves, Parsley, Cider or Dry White Wine, Mussels, Cream)

Moules à l’armoricaine (Mussels with Onion and Tomato)

Ingredients (Serves 2)

• 1 kg small mussels, cleaned and scrubbed
• 1 medium onion, roughly chopped
• 2 large tomatoes, skinned and chopped
• Butter
• Pepper

Method

• Melt a large tablespoon of butter in a large wide pan
• Add the onion, cook it over moderate heat until it becomes golden in colour
• Add the tomatoes and allow to cook for a minute or two to soften
• Add the mussels
• Turn up the flame and cook until the mussels are open, shaking the pan from time to time so that the sauce can distribute amongst the mussels
• As soon as the mussels are open, serve boiling hot with the addition of freshly ground black pepper

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Elizabeth Peddey (aka Sunday Relish) has been the Tribune’s food expert since 2009. She also consults in Meal and Pantry Planning, Food Shopping and Entertaining and offers Cooking Classes. Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Ph: 0419 505 438.

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