Moules marinières

Ingredients

• Mussels — live, in the shell2 kg
• Shallots4
• Celery3
• Garlic4 clove
• Dry white wine300 ml
• Butter60 g
• Parsley30 g
• Thyme and bay3 sprig
• Chips800 g
• Black pepperto taste

Salt and spices grow more slowly than the rest: doubling a dish does not double the pepper.

Weight converts to ounces and volume to cups. Grams of flour are not turned into cups, because that depends on how tightly it is packed.

Method

1. 1

   Sort the mussels: discard any that are cracked or that will not close when tapped. Pull away the beards and rinse them under the tap.

   20 min

2. 2

   Melt the butter in a wide pot and sweat the shallot, celery and garlic for five minutes without letting them colour.

   6 min

3. 3

   Pour in the wine, add the thyme and bay and bring it to the boil.

   3 min

4. 4

   Tip in the mussels, cover at once and hold them over a fierce flame for five minutes, shaking the pot a couple of times.

   6 min

5. 5

   Lift the lid: the shells should be open. Throw out any that are not. Scatter parsley, add pepper and serve with chips and the broth in a separate cup.

   3 min

About the dish

Mussels cook in steam from their own liquor rather than boiling in the wine. There should be two fingers of liquid in the pot — enough to make steam, not enough for the shells to swim in.

Five minutes is the limit. Overcooked mussels shrink into rubbery knots and there is no bringing them back.

Any that stay shut afterwards are thrown away rather than prised open. The rule is old and still right: a shell that will not open means the mussel was dead before the pot.

Worth knowing

• — No salt at all. The mussels bring enough seawater with them and it is very easy to overdo.
• — The pot should be wide with a tight lid. In a narrow one the bottom mussels overcook before the top ones open.
• — Do not throw the broth away: it is drunk from a cup or used for dipping the chips — Belgium does both.

Nutrition

Per serving at the base yield, calculated from the ingredients rather than measured in a lab.

Calories

620 kcal

Protein

38 g

Fat

26 g

Carbs

52 g

More from Belgian cuisine

• Carbonade flamande — Beef braised in dark beer with onion and a slice of mustard-spread bread that thickens the sauce.