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Surely moules marinières is the quintessential French holiday dish. The combination of spanking fresh seafood, wine and shallots accompanied by large hunks of crusty baguette is an intoxicating one, especially after what passes for breakfast on the ferry. But mussels are so blessedly cheap in Britain that there's no need to shell out (ha!) on a channel crossing to enjoy them in what The Prawn Cocktail Years calls "the greatest and the simplest of all mussel dishes". To be honest, there aren't many others in the running round my way, not even that other French favourite, mouclade, but who cares when you've got moules marinières and maybe a side order of frites?
The Marine Conservation Society reckons that mussel stocks are "generally considered to be underexploited". In fact, these bivalves are so obligingly abundant that they're sometimes dismissed as the poor man's shellfish – so whether you're haunted by your bank manager or Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, you can tuck in with a clean conscience. The especially conscientious wild mussel buyer (as Guardian readers, that means you) should look for hand-gathered rather than mechanically harvested examples, however: all that dredging wreaks havoc with the ocean floor.
The liquid
Although I'd always associated moules marinières with wine, Elizabeth David suggests that in its simplest form it can be just mussels cooked in either dry cider or white wine, and Lucas Hollweg of the Sunday Times also has a lovely looking recipe using cider and leeks. It makes sense: Normandy, where they take their mussels seriously, is carpeted with orchards and you're more likely to be offered a glass of cider or beer with your mussels than anything grapey from further south.
Although the sweet and sour flavour works well with the sweetness of the shellfish, apple-based sauces inevitably make me think of roast pork, which in turn transports me to an autumnal Sunday lunch rather than a French seaside resort in high season. A refreshingly acidic wine, like the muscadet suggested by Simon Hopkinson and Lindsey Bareham, feels much more summery. (Strictly speaking, like many shellfish, mussels are at their best in the colder months, but they're available all year round.) Indeed, Ollie Smith describes moules marinières and muscadet as "as sublime a match as Jayne Torville and Christopher Dean in the midst of Boléro" – I'll have to take his word for that.
Butter and its creamy ilk
Prawn Cocktail Years recipe moules marinières. Photograph: Felicity Cloake
Moules marinières are pretty damn chouette, but if I see moules à la crème on a menu, I'm sold – although quite honestly, the poor creatures are simply pawns: it's the prospect of a big pot of sea-salty, wine-flavoured cream that's the real draw. In French Provincial Cooking Elizabeth David includes double cream in her recipe for "a grander version of moules marinières", and Raymond Blanc suggests using whipping cream in his Foolproof French Cookery, so it's clearly not a culinary crime in the same league as a creamy carbonara. However, I'm prepared to be open-minded if it means eating more moules – and lo, the Prawn Cocktail Years version knocks my socks off. Without the cream, the flavour of the mussels and the wine can really shine: Rick Stein's recipe seems rich but dull in comparison. I must be getting sophisticated in my old age.
That's not to say that there's no room for a little luxury in a dish which should have a festive, holiday feel to it. In his book fish Tom Aikens adds a generous dollop of butter to the pot before serving, which adds depth without spoiling the flavour. Larousse Gastronomique suggests removing the mussels from the pan once done and then whisking butter into the cooking liquor to thicken it – but this seems an unnecessary faff, especially as the stars of the show cool so quickly.
Aromatics
Rick Stein recipe moules marinières. Photograph: Felicity Cloake
Much as I love mussels, Elizabeth David's simple cider-only take on moules marinières is rather disappointing – they can take on some bigger flavours (to be fair, she does warn the reader that this "primitive version ... is only really successful with the small and tender mussels which are none too easy to find in towns"). Something else is clearly needed and I prefer the sweet, almost winey flavour of shallots to the Prawn Cocktail Years onions, although I don't think this particular dish really needs the garlic deployed by Rick Stein and Tom Aikens: it seems too Mediterranean. The simple trinity of seafood, shallots and wine should be quite enough.
That said, herbs are a nice touch: a little thyme and a bay leaf, as used by Tom Aikens, add a subtle depth of flavour, while the chopped parsley which seems to be the mandatory garnish is pleasantly peppery, as well as providing a touch of colour.
Method
Tom Aikens recipe moules marinières. Photograph: Felicity Cloake
Apart from Elizabeth David's laughably simple basic version (throw mussels and cider in pan, cover until the mussels open, strain the stock if necessary, serve) most recipes follow the same pattern, softening the shallots or onions, along with any herbs, in butter, then adding the mussels and liquid and cooking as above. Tom Aikens, however, does things a little differently, starting with a wine and shallot and herb reduction, to which he adds more wine and the mussels before finishing with butter. This gives the broth a wonderfully intense flavour – all right, it adds 10 minutes on to the cooking time, but you still get dinner on the table in less than 15 minutes, which is just time to tear up the bread or send someone out to get a big pile of chips for dipping.
Perfect moules marinières
Felicity's perfect moules marinières. Photograph: Felicity Cloake
You can serve a simple green salad alongside if you want – but please, don't feel obliged.
Serves 2
1kg mussels
2 shallots, finely chopped
2 sprigs of thyme, leaves picked
1 bay leaf
150ml dry white wine, eg muscadet
50g butter, cubed
A small bunch of flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
1. Rinse the mussels in cold running water, and then give them a good scrub and scrape to remove any barnacles or dirt. Discard any with broken shells, and give any open ones a sharp tap: if they don't close, then throw them away too, because they're dead. Pull out the beards – the fibrous little appendages which the mussels use to attach themselves to ropes or rocks, by pulling them sharply towards the hinge end of the mussel, then leave them to sit in cold water for a couple of hours until ready to use.
2. Put the chopped shallots, thyme leaves, bay leaf and wine into a large pan, and bring to a simmer. Turn the heat down, and cook gently for 10 minutes, then turn up the heat to medium-high.
3. Drain the mussels and tip into the pan. Cover and cook until most of them have opened: about 3 minutes.
4. Add the butter and put the lid back on for 30 seconds to allow it to melt. Add the parsley and shake the pan well to distribute, then season gently and serve immediately, discarding any mussels which remain closed.
Moules marinières: is there a higher end to which the humble mussel might aspire? What other versions of this dish do you enjoy, and are there any other culinary classics that qualify as bona fide fast food?
Comments
21 June 2012 12:27AM
Spot on! My favourite fast food.I also like a clove or two of garlic and in the summer like to add a few chopped fresh tomatoes just before eating as they cook in the heat of the shells. I have also got into the habit of roasting them in the oven in single layers rather than cooking them in a big pot. This is because I find that the ones at the bottom get boiled to b*ggery. The great thing about roasting them is that you get additional juices to add the sauce you have just made. Bonus. Serve with crusty bread.
I have to add, that a bowl of mussels I had at a Chinese restaurant a few years ago, mussels cooked in wine with chillies was a bit of an unexpected but delicious revelation.
21 June 2012 12:31AM
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21 June 2012 12:39AM
You barely mention the frites. Essential!
21 June 2012 1:04AM
Had a really nice bowl of this last week but the bread on the side was ciabatta. Definitely need something more absorbent to make sure it's all mopped up.
21 June 2012 1:05AM
Opening paragraph "with maybe a side order of frites".
21 June 2012 1:24AM
Felicity should have a TV show - her recipes never disappoint.
21 June 2012 1:26AM
So you have left out the cream, after all? How different you are, from one week to the next. The version with cream was served to me as moules à la normande in Etretat (Normandy coast).
We disagree on cider, but I still love you.
As for what else can go in: celery/fennel!
I agree with Simgeo about the side order.
21 June 2012 1:39AM
Second word "barely".
21 June 2012 2:00AM
Mussels are great. Thanks for this article.
However, I'm not wholly convinced it's true you should discard mussels that do not open after cooking. I think this might be a bit of an urban myth.
This article seems well-researched and quite convincing.
Any thoughts?
21 June 2012 2:03AM
I totally agree with CaressofSteel's suggestion.
21 June 2012 2:28AM
When I was a student, moules were a staple. The poor man's oyster, and easy to cook on a small gas ring.
Although I have heard of people adding thyme and a bay leaf (along with celery leaves in a bouquet garni) this is not something I am fond of. And the absence of garlic is, for me at least, downright odd. Perhaps this is peculiar to British tastes? Although I had thought that the British got over their aversion to garlic sometime in the mid 1980s, when they had to cope with Margaret Thatcher and needed something to warm the blood.
And I can't imagine starting a pot of mussels without first melting a generous amount of butter - I don't understand why you would add globs of butter after the fact. Indeed, there is something about the melted butter, sauteing shallots (or onion, if chopped very fine), chopped celery, chopped garlic and chopped flat leaf parsley that just calls out for a few generous twists of the pepper mill, and a pinch or two of fleur de sel.
I think that her instructions on how to clean mussels were very good - and once cleaned, do leave them in cold water until you cook them, you get more broth that way - and I always add some more freshly chopped parsley to the pot just before the mussels are fully cooked, when I shake the pot around a bit. I am in full agreement about white wine over cider or beer.
There are other variations which I love - adding a bit of saffron, for example - but the classic butter, shallots, garlic, celery, parsley, pepper, salt and white wine is a classic. Simple and wonderful.
21 June 2012 3:01AM
"Discarding any mussels that remained closed"
Old wives tail that I presumed had become well and truly debunked by its appearance as a question on QI.
I was taught this, as everyone was, but it appears that everyone got this information from a single cook book written so long ago that nobody can remember what it was. A classic example of groupthink.
The closed mussels are supposed to be the best ones, a bit silly to be throwing them away!
21 June 2012 3:03AM
I had some in Belgium once, cooked pretty much as above, in wine, but with a little boat of a lovely sauce made from nice dark belgian beer and cream. It was lovely. Great that the sauce was served seperately, so you could eat some mussels with and some without the sauce.
21 June 2012 3:38AM
Felictiy,
you seem to have the same view towards garlic that the Le Pen's have towards immigrants. I can't understand it.
Regardless, this is one of the most enjoyable, and useful things on the internet I have come across. Thanks!
21 June 2012 3:40AM
Why soak them in cold water? Doesn't this lose a lot of the lovely salty flavour?
This looks nice but mussels with a garlicky, chilli-ish tomato sauce can't be beaten. Saute chopped garlic and chilli in olive oil, add a tin of tomatoes and cook for 5-10 minutes, chuck in the mussels and cook until ready. Mix in a nice handful of chopped parsley and you are in mussel heaven.
But this recipe does look nice. Maybe I should branch out.
21 June 2012 3:40AM
- I mean the whole series. The reasons why things don't work are much much more valuable than the actual one's that become the 'perfect'. At least for hobnobbing at bourgeois shenanigans...
21 June 2012 5:06AM
Yes, yes, there are many ways to cook mussels (coconut milk, ginger, Pernod, tomatoes etc, etc) but it's moules marinières we're discussing here.
I was always warned (and fishmongers confirm) mussels that don't open when cooked are dead before steaming and therefore bad. Though some of you appear to have survived, we'll never hear from those that didn't. More information, please, Murphed.
The soaking water is to expel any sand or grit. Much more necessary with clams. Rope-grown mussels hardly need it.
21 June 2012 5:31AM
Swap the butter for extra virgin olive oil. Better for the heart, and the environment.
21 June 2012 5:44AM
I’m not arguing with the validity of the author’s conclusions, but no more butter please! The mussels don’t need it.
I make mine with a tomato sauce most often, although that is with green lipped mussels which are hardly native. Tomatoes offer both the acidity of a wine and also bring out the umami flavours of the mussels.
One herb that goes great with mussels is Summer Savoury, you’ll almost certainly have to grow this yourself but it is easy to grow- as its name suggests it grows in the summer and is treated as an annual in the UK. Don’t confuse it with Winter Savoury which isn’t as good. I’d say if you only grew one herb it should be Summer Savoury as you can’t buy it easily and it is a stand in for a multitude of different herbs and it dries well so even though you have to replant it every year you can easily be using it well into Autumn.
Another idea is using a Chinese style broth with the addition of Nori seaweed/ laverbread (they are the same thing) as you get a real punch of sea flavour (omit the MSG here as you will get plenty from the seaweed).
21 June 2012 5:55AM
I think you’ll find that most of the mussels we buy are farmed so there won’t be a lot of grit, it’s only if you scavenge them that you’ll need to worry about that. Scavenging is a lot more dangerous, it might be illegal in the area due to conservation concerns and the mussels may be contaminated- farmed mussels are safer and don’t involve a trip to the seaside.
Cooking them is easy, if they are open, and that will be only slightly, then tap them gently and they should close- if they don’t discard. Once they are cooked any that don’t open should be discarded. So the simple rule is closed before cooking, open after cooking.
21 June 2012 6:19AM
How thoroughly modern.
A word in your shell-like:
Some of the most important things one learns in life you will never see written down; don't put your head in a lion's mouth, for instance.
Just do yourself a favour. If it ain't open chuck it. You won't regret it.
21 June 2012 6:24AM
http://www.australianmussels.com.au/mythbusting
21 June 2012 6:26AM
I lived in Boulogne-sur-Mer for over 20 years, and Felicity's (almost) absolutely correct with her recipe. The dish there was moules frites, you could have it without the butter, but not without the chips. The mussels all have to pass through a station d'épuration to be sold at all. Yes, if they're closed after cooking, don't eat them (how can you anyway, they're closed, tight shut - there is no such thing as a moules opening knife).
Other essential thing is beer as an accompaniment.
One quibble, you cook them in a whole bottle of muscadet, not a pansy 150 ml !
21 June 2012 6:27AM
Obviously you should regret throwing out perfectly edible food.
21 June 2012 6:44AM
I'll send you mine in the post. OK?
21 June 2012 6:50AM
I don't like mussels.
When I am in Belgium I normally go for a Smurf and Turf.
21 June 2012 6:58AM
very nice. particularly like the fact that there are so many different ways of making them described.
regarding the 'request' for other versions of the dish: adding a little saffron works wonders.
or sometimes, in a very different version of the dish, a little coconut milk and lemon grass. and galangal. quite fantastic.
21 June 2012 6:58AM
I do like mussels, but there a pain in the ass to clean.
21 June 2012 6:59AM
Please - it's "moules marinière" - with no -s at the end. "Marinière" is here not an adjective modifying "moules" but a noun. Cf. "sole bonne femme."
21 June 2012 7:01AM
Mussels are my favourite shellfish. The French beach recipe of cooking them in a brief fire of pine needles is pretty cool. Possibly not suitable for this column.
re the open/closed debate, I think I am prepared to play it safe. If you buy mussels from a reputable fishmonger with a decent turnover, and you store them properly (eg in the fridge under a bit of damp cloth and not in a plastic bag in which they will suffocate), then there won't be many ones that are dead before you cook them.
21 June 2012 7:01AM
Sorry - on reflection it's short for "à la façon marinière" .
21 June 2012 7:03AM
Another essential thing is celery leaves. This is what gives the dish bite. Bad omission.
21 June 2012 7:22AM
I have no donkey so it does not suffer,but certainly,cleaning is a pain in the arse.
21 June 2012 7:47AM
It's odd how time spent cleaning and preparing feels bad but time spent cooking is good. Whereas if you were cooking Chinese food, you might feel quite happy spending more time chopping than frying.
I don't think mussel cleaning is quite as arse-painful as all that. It is less of a pain than cleaning potatoes, for instance.
21 June 2012 7:49AM
Moules, lovely! I could eat them every day. I miss France and being by the sea. I prefer the simpler versions to the grander recipes.
I don't know that I'd call moules fast food though, with all the preparing/cleaning involved.
21 June 2012 7:53AM
Thanks for nicely detailed article, Felicity. Might I add this environmental note?
Seaside Holidaymakers please note.
the abundance or not of estuary mussels (and other shellfish) gives you an idea of the local sewage status.
Scarcity of shells on the beach, few or only small shellfish clinging to rocks, and only tiny flocks of sea birds are danger signs. Problems we're having in North Devon estuaries, Rivers Taw & Torridge have alerted us. One aspect is that holiday regions are often poor for the rest of the year, so local government can be feeble against local industry & pollution clean-ups not tough enough.
Hoteliers specialising in 'local delicacies' find they have to purchase shellfish from elsewhere, thanks to outmoded town water treatment systems which have damaged a sensitive environment.
Harvest wild ones very cautiously as some will contain pollutants from further upriver too - usually farm or factory chemical issue.
Diners, surfers, campers and basically, everyone, please help the wonderful seaside by adding your voice to campaigns for restoring healthy beaches and river water purity. Visit => Marinet informative website.
Very sorry if you're eating while you read, about this =>link but it underlines the point.
Each one of us can act responsibly on holiday & it is powerful.
21 June 2012 8:02AM
I find it hard to believe that anyone can rinse & de-beard 1kg of mussels, strip 2 sprigs of thyme, chop a shallot & cook the dish in 10-15 minutes. To me, get dinner on the table isn't the time spent at the stove, it's that plus prep time. Being unrealistic about cooking times is a really annoying aspect of so many recipes. Like the 20 minute risotto!
21 June 2012 8:14AM
I harvest wild mussels from the rocks near our apartment in Sozopol on the Black Sea. They sell a special contraption in the fishing accessories shops which is a net attached to a sort of metal jaw so you swim along the rocks scraping the mussels away and they fall into the net.
I am happy to eat moules maranieres all summer, and for free! The de-bearding and cleaning is no problem: grab a cold glass of white wine and put on some James Taylor music and go about your work in a chilled manner.
(By the way, the Black Sea has very low fishing yields these days. Fish populations have declined alarmingly, as have dolphins. There are lots of jelly fish, and lots if mussels.
21 June 2012 8:21AM
I last had (farmed) mussels at New Year's, and didn't check them well enough before cooking them, and gave myself food poisoning. So yeah, throw out the closed ones and check them thoroughly before cooking them. This recipe makes me willing to try them again soon, though.
21 June 2012 8:22AM
For anyone wishing to have some background information on the evolution of that "throw away closed mussels" myth, read here:
http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2008/10/29/2404364.htm
Btw: olive oil, garlic, bit of chili, parsley, chopped tomatoes, mussels - perfect (for me!).
21 June 2012 8:23AM
PS A bit off-topic but on the subject of jellyfish and treating jellyfish stings, one word:
urine.
21 June 2012 8:23AM
For something different try Andrew Fairlie's recipe for mussels with fennel and curry.
http://www.andrewfairlie.co.uk/andrew-fairlie/cooking-at-home/recipes/mussels-with-fennel-and-curry
Yummy and now our preferred version.
21 June 2012 8:24AM
Where's the Frites and the Garlic?!?
Anyway in response to:
"Which other dish is both a culinary classic and bona fide fast food?"
Fish and Chips? Any form of Chinese/Malay/Thai fried rice or noodles?
21 June 2012 8:28AM
I put on some James Taylor last time I had to clean some mussels and after two songs every single mussel had opened up and refused to close when tapped.
I had to bin the lot and get a Chinese in.
21 June 2012 8:29AM
In your entire article you never once mention Belgium - surely the mussel eating capital of the world!? There have the right idea - moules marinere/au vin blanc done simply, with lots of crusty bread and Frites à volonté! And OF COURSE it has to be drunk with a beer, and again, nowhere does beer quite like Belgium...
21 June 2012 8:31AM
My local restaurant here in Downderry, Cornwall, does a superb mussels dish using Cornish Cider (plus all the other bits) and just a hint of curry - I drool just thinking about it! If you're in Cornwall give it a try!
21 June 2012 8:32AM
Toxic being the operative word. Love mussels, but never, never again.
21 June 2012 8:32AM
Felicity, you are a star. This was one of your best articles yet in the series. I am smacking my chops at the prospect of all those mussels this summer. I want you to have my babies.
I tend towards including garlic - in in doubt, garlic always goes in for health reasons. We eat raw garlic for breakfast in my neck of the woods and it benefits the sex drive of the aging male. But I can see your point that garlic is inauthentic to northerly mussel-producing regions.
21 June 2012 8:34AM
Absolutely untrue and quite incorrect gastronomically. And yes, there is right and wrong.
21 June 2012 8:36AM
Love mussels but the best way to prepare them is without doubt to cook them on the barbecue over pine needles.
You can spoon in some spicy paste like I do or leave them and dip them in lime or garlic butter.
You do need fingers made of asbestos to hold them though.
Mussels that don't open when cooked are dead, when they died you can't tell. Most likely it was in transit from wherever you bought them and they will be fine to eat. Sometimes though the mussel might have died days ago and will give you problems if you eat it. Why gamble??