Friday 11 January 2008

Mussels "Gremolata"


The Mussel Man of Dromana. every local knows of him. About 10 years ago (or so legend has it), he stole a Safeway trolley, towed it out offa Safety Beach and dropped it in. He returned a year later and the damn thing was covered in mussels. Just like the glorious ones above. From there, he's prospered. During Mussel season, IF he's been a'harvestin', he'll have a cardboard sign out in his front yard. "Mussels today". If not, don't bother knocking.

When I started buying from him some 8 years ago, you could get a garbage bag full for $6. Now, they're about $6 a kg.



Scrub mussels well under running fresh water. Beard them and remove as many barnacles as tou can. Preferable bribe your 15 y/o son into doing this.

Add some good quality white wine, some fish stock, a splash of soy, a splash of fish sauce and a knob of ginger and some bruised lemongrass to a saucepan. Bring to the boil. Drop in your mussels and cover. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Turn off heat and leave covered for a further 5 mins. meanwhile, make your Asian fusion "gremolata".



Finely chop a bunch of corriander, some garlic, the rind of a lemon, some Vietnamese mint and some Thai basil. 1/2 a red chilli.

Remove mussels from heat and throw in the "gremolata". Stir quicky. Ladle into bowls and serve with extra lemon juice and chunks of pasta dura for slurping.



Remember to take pics of the beach the following day, to make all your readers in the Northern Hemi positively VERT with jealousy. And yes, the sky REALLY is that colour!!

7 comments:

grocer said...

yuh-huh-ummmmmmmm!

and do I detect an increased level of involvement in the cuisine from beanpole?

grocer said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
grocer said...

sorry, i posted the same think twice!

Squishy said...

See now I love mussels but noone else in my family does. So I miss out. They look great. Keep up the good work!

Jazz said...

I love those pictures... unfortunately I HATE mussels... Mr. Jazz loves 'em though poor dear, but he can't eat any with me.

purple goddess said...

pretty good, hey???

Grocer, the lima bean has awlays been interested in food.. hopes to do something in it as a career. He was moulding my meatballs for my catering biz at 4... a 4 y/o boy has perfect bite-sized meatball-shaping hands!!! But now, at nearly 16 he is developng an interest in actually th8inking about flavours and ingredients. I am loving watching it..

And Squish and Jazz.. you'll just have to come down to Melb in Mussel season and I'll cook them for those who loves 'em!!

stickyfingers said...

Yep parallel universe again...LOL! I was doing my mussels with Pernod, parsley and lemon served with lashings of baguette.