I harvested our mussels from Foodtown, not yet having enough local knowledge to find them in the wild. Little did I know that cooking them was going to be just as adventurous as gathering them would have been...
Step 1 Store the mussels in a non-airtight container in the fridge so that they can breathe. Oops. I hadn't realised that they were still alive and left them in a plastic bag.
Step 2 Empty the mussels into a sink full of cold water. This was the moment of truth. If they were still alive (and therefore edible), they would open and shut in the water to expel sand and air from their shells. Success! Only one mussel had suffered a premature demise. The rest were a little sluggish but tap them hard enough and they would snap shut.
Step 3 Debeard the mussels. Easier said than done. Cue much grunting from Skene as he attempted to strip each creature of its byssus threads. Pull the wrong way and the mussel dies in agony. I didn't have the heart to even try.
Step 4 Scrub the mussels and remove all barnacles. Barnacles don't particularly taste good when they drop into the soup.
Step 5 Start cooking. We opted for fennel, cream and tomato with a dash of brandy. Amazingly the mussels opened up and tasted delicious. Check back here tomorrow to see if they've poisoned us...
No comments:
Post a Comment