Food File: How not to murder your mussels

Mussels are cheap, delicious and fun to eat – especially if you use the first empty shell as a set of pincers to extract the sweet, pale pink flesh from those left in the bowl. I love this shellfish, and eat them regularly. But apparently I’ve been committing mass murder each time I cook them.

Here’s how it goes: I buy a big net bag full, take them home, pop them in a bowl of water to extract any grains of sand they may have ingested and leave them in the fridge. A while before I cook them, I get the time consuming de-bearding (removing the stringy bits clinging to the closed shell) over and done with. Wrong, and wrong again.

"It's best not to leave them in water – the mussels will drown as there is not enough oxygen to keep them alive," says Martin McLoughlin, a fishmonger and proprietor of Nicky's Plaice on the West Pier in Howth.

McLoughlin goes on to explain that de-de-bearding should be done just before cooking. “Mussels go into shock if over-handled, so do it immediately before you cook them.”

Mussels should be alive when you cook them, and McLoughlin explains how to check this: “If there are any open ones, tap them, and if they close they are alive. If they don’t close, throw them out. There’s nothing fresher than being alive.” Also discard any that haven’t opened up during the cooking process.

The old adage that shellfish should only be eaten when there is a “r” in the month doesn’t apply to mussels, McLoughlin tells me.

“Years ago this would have been a problem during the summer months as travelling across the country in vehicles during hot weather would not have been safe. This is no longer the case, as vehicles have refrigerated containers to transport the mussels in.”

A recent Bord Bia survey revealed that 94 per cent of those asked said they liked eating mussels. Still, most of us like to leave the preparation to others: only 77 per cent have cooked them at home, while 92 per cent say they’ve eaten the shellfish in a restaurant.

To address this, Bord Bia has launched a campaign – #flexyourmussels – to promote the sale and consumption of Irish mussels in the home.

You will find the recipes for the dish pictured here, cider braised mussels with bacon and creme fraiche, and another for mussel, hake and tomato soup, online at irishtimes.com/food. Further recipes are available at bordbia.ie/fish.

Upload a photo of your home-cooked mussel dish on social media, using the hashtag #flexyourmussels, and you could be in with a chance of winning one of three €100 gift cards. The winners will be selected by food writer Lilly Higgins on Monday, July 4th.