SEASON’S EATINGS Fear not, shellfish sceptics, for the humble mussel is cheap, easy to prepare and damn tasty. Here’s how to get the best out of them. For such a tasty shellfish, the mussel gets an unnecessarily bad rap. People with otherwise adventurous appetites will often turn green at the mere mention of these humble bivalves, worried out of their minds about food poisoning. Of course, it would be silly to suggest that mussels carry zero risk of making you ill, but the same is true of other shellfish, and if you stick to a few rules of thumb while cooking them, the risk is negligible. A bowl of mussels prepared in the classic French style (moules marinières), is a restaurant-style
dish guaranteed to impress dinner party guests who will assume that it is tricky to prepare. The truth, however, is that this dish is as simple to prepare as food gets. Not only that, it is ridiculously cheap. Once your guests are tucking happily into their mussels, why not impress them further with some fun mussel facts? Did they know that mussels can live up to 50 years? Or that the adhesive in their beards is so powerful that they can stick to teflon? Impressive little fellows, aren’t they? Damn tasty too.
Moules Marinières (serves 4 as a starter or lunch)
Words by Darragh McCausland Photo by Aoife McElwain THERE’S THIS LITTLE PLACE...
Delhi O’Deli 12 Moore St, Dublin 1
T: +353 (0) 1872 9129 W: www.delhiodeli.com
Tucked away among the fruit markets and phone shops on Dublin’s Moore street is a little Indian restaurant with the amusing name Delhi O’Deli. For those that know it, it is one of the city’s best foodie secrets, a mindbogglingly cheap purveyor of Indian vegetarian street food, with a menu of unusual dishes that you will not find anywhere else in town. Just how cheap is mind-bogglingly cheap? Well, they have a selection of ‘daily fivers’, where you can fill your plate with a selection of tasty curries and accompaniments for €5. Or, if you want to go á la carte, you can try out the likes of chole bature, a sizable plate of curried chickpeas served with dips and two piping hot portions of just-baked bread. The cost? €4.95, and the taste would put most high end Indian restaurants to shame.
1.75kg mussels 1 clove of garlic chopped very fine 2 shallots chopped very fine 20g butter for frying A bouquet garni (a sprig of thyme, parsely and a bay leaf tied together) 75ml dry white wine (sauvignon blanc is good here)
100ml double cream 1 handful chopped flat parsley leaves. Salt and pepper to season Crusty bread to serve
First the mussels need to be prepared in the correct fashion. They need to be rinsed under cold water a few times and scrubbed to remove grit and sand. Then their beards need to be removed by tugging them sharply or by scraping at them with a small sharp knife. At this point, any mussels that are open should be thrown out, as these are bad news.
Remove the saucepan from the heat, stir in the cream and chopped parsley, season, and serve in bowls with plenty of the liquid ladled over the top. Crusty bread is a perfect accompaniment for this dish as people will want to mop up every last delicious drop.
Now that the mussels are squeaky clean it’s time to start cooking. Begin by frying the shallots, garlic and bouquet garni in the butter at the base of a deep saucepan on a medium heat. Once the shallot turns translucent, turn up the heat to medium/ high and then add the mussels and the white wine. Give them a good stir in the liquid, and cover for four or five minutes. The mussels will now cook in the steam from the wine and should open as they cook. It is important to only cook them for four or five minutes and no longer, as overcooked mussels have the texture of seawater-flavoured pencil erasers. Once the mussels are cooked discard any that are unopened as these are again bad news.
15 AU76
You might find after cooking this dish that there is liquid left over in the saucepan. It would be a shame to throw this out as it makes a fine sauce to toss through ribbon pasta such as tagliatelle. Mussels are extremely versatile and moules marinières is only one way of preparing them. They are excellent in chowders, in pasta dishes, or even steamed then roasted with toppings such as breadcrumbs and Parmesan. The next time you visit your fishmonger why not give them a go? For such unassuming little things, they are one of the true treasures of our native cuisine.