“I cook my mussels much longer than the French do. The flesh of the mussels becomes much more tender, more delicious. With the French method, what you are often tasting are mussels that aren’t cooked through.”
– Janne Bark, mussel farmer and restaurant owner, Ljungskile, Sweden
Serves 4 big appetites
INGREDIENTS
3kg blue mussels
100ml rapeseed oil
A knob of butter
2 medium onions, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
A large pinch of dried chilli flakes
2 sticks of celery, finely chopped
2 carrots, finely diced
A large pinch of sea salt
400ml white wine
2 bunches flat leaf parsley, chopped
A handful of parsley to garnish
The dressing:
100ml fish stock (or, even better, heavily reduced broth from cooking discarded mussel shells)
200ml double cream
100ml sour cream
200g Roquefort cheese
METHOD
Wash and scrub the mussels clean. Throw away the ones that are broken.
For the dressing, bring the fish stock to a gentle simmer, then add the creams and stir in the crumbled cheese until it is completely melted. Then take off the heat and put to one side.
In a large pan, heat the oil at the highest temperature and add the butter, onions, garlic, chilli flakes, carrots, parsley, celery and salt.
Before the mix starts to colour, add the wine and let it reduce for a couple of minutes. Then add the mussels, cooking on a high heat until the mussels start to open.
Cover the pan and continue to cook on a high heat for at least 10 minutes, then spoon the Roquefort dressing over the top as required (it’s a pretty strong dressing so taste it as you go). Serve the mussels in a suitable bowl or straight out of the pan.
Garnish with a little parsley and serve with a good aioli and fresh baked bread.
Have it with apple juice, white wine or, as Janne suggests, a glass of dark, luscious porter.