When the months start to end in …ber, then it’s time to get stuck into a bowel of mussels John Hillman takes a look at the different places to enjoy them, all accessible with P&O!

Mussels have been enjoyed by Northern Europeans for thousands of years, beginning as the original foraging food of our ancestors and ending up as protagonists in the culinary specialities of many different regions.

So whether you enjoy them deep-fried in Holland, beer-brothed in Belgium, or Bouillabaissed in Brittany the months from September to December represent the season to best enjoy these tasty little treasures. It just remains to be decided where.

Brittany is widely considered the finest place on earth to eat Mussels, the smaller delicate ones cooked here are supposed to be superior in flavour to the fatter ones found in the Low Countries, but this will of course be hotly dispute by many.

Anyone fortunate enough to be passing through this region over the next four months can judge for themselves by stopping at one of the many Mouleries found scattered across the region. These are eateries that serve nothing but moules in a wide variety of different flavoured sauces along with frites or fresh bread.
This part of France is also famous for its incredibly dry white wine, Muscadet, and delicious local cider; you’ll find that many dishes are cooked in one of these two delicious beverages along with butter, herbs, garlic and shallots. La Rochelle holds and annual mussel bake on the beach known as the Éclade des Moules, where thousands of mussels are arranged in circles and baked over white-hot pine needles.

Over in Belgium you’ll find an equal number of great places to eat your mosselen met friet or moules frites and what better way to enjoy that wonderful stock of white wine, herbs, butter and vegetables than with a selection (selection mind) of flavoursome Belgium beers. A trip to Brussels around this time of year promises to yield some truly spectacular mussel dishes.

In Holland you’ll find Mussels are treated with rather less respect than in Belgium and France, more fast food than fine dining. You’re more likely to be served mussels that have been rolled in breadcrumbs or batter and deep-fried at your local take-away. But remember that Mussels have always been the food of the peasantry and the very first fast food dish in Northern Europe, and deep-fried mussels are actually quite delicious.

So happy eating and remember: however you enjoy your mussels this season the most important thing is that you do so, and in large quantities.

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Image Credit: Foshie

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