The South West is known for the quality of its mussels – many who have grown up in Devon or Cornwall may well have harvested their own from rocks on the North Atlantic coast. But just why are the mussels that we find in our neck of the woods so great? Ian Webber has the answers…
Being a Devonshire boy it pains me to say my favourite West Country mussels are from Fowey, with a close second being the River Exe.
We use both at the pub, delivered fresh five days a week, as they should be eaten fresh and still be alive before cooking.
The Fowey mussels are rope grown at sea in an area of strong current which gives them lots of nutrients, producing silt-free, large, juicy mussels, which then go through a further purification process.
The River Exe mussels are estuary grown, in the fast moving tide of the Exe. They tend to be slightly smaller but are also excellent as great care is taken during their innovative harvesting technique and purification processes, producing a silt-free product.
The quality of these mussels and the purification processes used after harvesting means they tend to be very clean, which means they don’t need the old school approach of a handful of porridge oats and water to clean out the silt, which can work but tends to drown them if left too long or if the water is not moving.
We further check, scrub and remove their hairy beard which they use to cling to where they grow. If open they are tapped, if alive they will then close, any that don’t should be discarded.
Mussels should be cooked quickly in a hot pan with a lid, using a small amount of liquid, often alcohol. We use our local Berry Farm Cider, but some will use white wine. They should smell fresh of the sea and be cooked and open after 2-3 minutes using this technique, any that don’t open are probably dead and should not be eaten. If you get a bad smell when cooking, I’d throw out the contents and start again as your stomach won’t like you very much if you eat a bad mussel!
My other favourite thing to do is make a classic fish stock substituting the fish bones for mussels, cooking only for 20 minutes. This produces a great tasting stock for soups, sauces and poaching fish, or for cooking potatoes to accompany the dish below. Just dice the potatoes and cook in the stock, and when cooked finish with a chopped anise flavoured herb, chervil, tarragon, or basil.