Fresh Mussels...

We serve them in all our three restaurants.

Over the years we've cooked them in various guises, but the most popular way is that simple one, Moules Marinieres with added cream, although if someone asks, our chefs can always leave that last ingredient out.

Personally, I prefer them without cream exactly the way my cousin in Dieppe showed me back in 1979.

Her husband and I picked them from rocks on Dieppe beach, cleaned them and she cooked them. I fell in love with them and have been cooking them her way ever since.
Mussels are so much cleaner these days. Because they are grown on ropes, they contain no sand at all and very few barnacles.
Ours come all the way from the Shetlands.

Yesterday, I had a bowlful for lunch at Casa and another bowlful at Portofino just before I went to watch Pools scrape a win against ten-men Port Vale.

I love to eat them with some tomato garlic bread.


6 comments:

Mélanie said...

I have followed to this new blog !! I like it.
Moules à la marinière is not my favorite meal ..but I could taste it.
What will you cook for valentine's menu ?

Caroline said...

If they are cleaner that means fewer pearls!

My mother used to love mussels and I liked finding the funny little pearls (not as good as oyster ones but fun when I was a child!) - she just boiled them until they opened then ate them with brownbread, butter and salt.

I just liked the pearls.

Krimo said...

Melanie, check out the Valentine menus by going to our "Restaurants and other links..." button.

Caro, once a guy found a black round thing in one of the mussels. He thought it was a pearl. It was only a black peppercorn!!!

Queenie said...

I have had problems getting here, my comments wouldn't load. Mussels are my husbands favourite dish, I can take or leave them, give me a prawn every time or smoked salmon..

Krimo said...

Glad you managed to make it. It's this ever-changing Blogger!
Tell Matt, we serve some good ones.
I do love a good smoked salmon and fresh Mediterranean prawns.
In fact I eat anything!

Mary said...

I only just came across them w/the added cream and i must say I enjoyed it. Of course it's not good for me...