DUTCH FOOD Calendar presents Mussels in July

Mussels

Mussels are our beloved black gold: healthy, tasty, fun to eat and served in beautiful big black mussel pan. Did you know that one ounce mussel meat contains more protein than one ounce of beef, and only a mere quarter of the calories and much less fat? Something to chew on. The season for mussels runs from July to April, and they are most famously caught in Zeeland, specifically in the village of Yerseke. On the third Saturday of August, they even celebrate their own mussel day there! Mussel day has it all: a carnival fair, marching bands, a chance to tag along on a special mussel ship, fireworks, and naturally loads and loads of mussel eating.
If you look at the figures, it is understandable the people from Yerseke feel that mussels deserve a good party. The mussel is the most important product from Dutch shellfish farming, and Yerseke is the epicenter of mussel sales of all Northwest Europe. They process around 90 million kilos of mussels per year, of which over 50 million come from Dutch waters. And maybe the Dutch also love mussels so much because it is one of few foods that are orange? Not all of them are, and all mussel sellers will tell you the white ones taste just as good because it’s just a matter of pigmentation. But as you can imagine, we at the embassy prefer the orange ones.

INGREDIENTS
2 kg mussels ( 1 kg per person)
2 onions
3 carrots
1 leak
Parsley
Bayleaf
250 ml white wine
Sauces
Baquette

DIRECTIONS
1. Only use those mussels which are closed after you have washed them.
2. Cut the vegetables and put them in a pan together with the mussels, parsley, bay leaf and wine. Cook for about 5-8 min till the mussels have opened. Shake the pan now and then.
3. Take out the mussels which are still closed and throw away.
4. Serve the complete pan with mussels just like that on the table with different sauces, bread and French fries.

Special thanks to Mieke de Bruin for this photo!

Read all recipes of the Dutch Food Calendar