Selecting, preparing and cooking your mussels

Selecting your mussels

• Before purchasing always check with your fishmonger for the mussels harvest day. As a general rule, mussels are at their best when they are no more than four days old.
• Ideally, mussels should be alive when you buy and cook them, unless they have been shelled and frozen.
• Their shells should be bright, undamaged and closed. Open mussels should be given a squeeze and a tap - if they close they are still alive; if not they are dead and unfit for consumption.

Preparing your mussels

• Now scrub the shells with a stiff brush removing any debris from the outer case.
• Remove the beard (the small tuft protruding from the mussel), from between the shells. The easiest way to do this is to pull the beard from tip to hinge.
• Farmed mussels should already be prepared for cooking, and will just need a quick rinse under cool running water.
• Your mussels are now ready to use in any recipes.
• If you aren't going to cook the mussels immediately after purchase, place them in an empty bowl, cover them with a damp tea towel and refrigerate.
• The mussels should keep for three or four days like this, but it's best to cook them as soon as possible.
• Avoid keeping them in an airtight container or submerged in water.
• If you want to keep them moist it's best to simply cover them with a damp cloth

Cooking your mussels

• Place the mussels in a large pot, you only need to add a small amount of liquid, usually either white wine or water, as once opened the mussels release their own liquid.
• Cover the pan and cook over a medium heat for about six minutes, or until the mussels are open. Try to remove each mussel as they open.
• Do not use any mussels that have remained closed.
• The mussels are now ready to be served.

Freezing cooked mussels

• If you intend freezing cooked mussels, place them in a container - either in their shells or as extracted meats - together with the strained, cooked mussel juice.