by Norma Jean Bishop

Created on: March 06, 2008

"Moules marinieres" is the most popular French recipe for mussels. Eating moules on the English Channel, rain pouring down in sheets, boats tipping in the wind, is an evocative experience. Cooking them at home while watching "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg" (1964 film) on a video-screen, or while listening to Edith Piaf crooning, you can almost recreate this moment.

The best mussels have been freshly fished from the Atlantic and haven't traveled more than about 220 miles (from Cherbourg to Paris, for example). Excellent mussels can be found on both sides of the Atlantic; the French ones speak a foreign language which gives them a special charm.

In a whipping rainstorm near Stonehenge, after taking shelter in an inviting pub, I was once served "cockles and mussels" (definitely NOT "alive, alive oh!")as cocktail appetizers. There were also even tinier shellfish. These were good but not at all the same experience.

Mussels should be alive and closed before cooking and dead and open before eating. (Don't eat any mussels that don't open up during cooking.) Food should nourish, not terrify, the human spirit. If you are afraid, talk to seafood chef before cooking - you'll get plenty of advice.....

Begin by cooking a shallot (French onion), a bit of chopped garlic, parsley, a dash of pepper and a few spoonfuls of butter in a large pan (such as a wok). Add 2 pounds of mussels and a half-cup of dry white wine (champagne is excellent). Steam the mussels for about 5 minutes, until the shells open.

After cooking, don't wash the mussels or throw away the broth!

Serve them in a bowl, in their shells, with a French baguette alongside. Voila'! After the mussels are eaten, the good French bread dipped in the broth is both aphrodisiac and healthy. Wash it down with white wine (such as Chardonnay). Share your mussels and wine with a loved one.

The nutritional value of fresh mussels cannot be underestimated. They are rich in iron, zinc, iodine and Vitamin B12 and also contain phosphorus, folic acid and calcium. Instead of "warming the cockles of my heart", the more passionate reaction might be "firing up the mussels of my being."

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