Okay, I admit I am not well schooled in do-it-yourself shellfish. I’m a firm believer in having a beautiful seafood plate set in front of you by an incredibly polite person with a napkin draped over his/her arm. I bravely tiptoed out of my comfort zone when I agreed to a mini-dinner party, guest-starring the Mytilus galloprovincialis.
“Do these things feel any pain?” I asked as I de-bearded five pounds of Mediterranean mussels in my one-pound kitchen. I felt slightly guilty as I yanked the twists of “hair,” beaded with shell chips, from the innards of these most under appreciated of seafoods. Hadn’t they been through enough being shipped alive a thousand miles in a Styrofoam container? My dinner guests were kind. “Don’t worry about it, they don’t have a central nervous system. Or a brain.” Good to hear, as this meant I could stop apologizing to every shell as I prepared them for their destiny of broth and bread.
I was fortunate to be the recipient of a generous sampling of the plump, meaty, and, dare I say, trendy bivalves from Taylor Shellfish Farms in Shelton, Washington. Boasting more protein than beef and high in iron, calcium, and B vitamins, Mediterranean mussels are becoming quite the hot summer food fling for good reason. Did I mention they are low in fat?
Thriving in the rich waters of the South Puget Sound, Taylor’s Mediterranean mussels are carefully nurtured from seed-hood until they can sustain themselves suspended on mesh ropes lashed to rafts. This state-of-the-art method makes for such clean and fresh mussels, that when you crack the shipped box and take a deep breath, you can smell the tang of the Sound itself.
What began as an experiment in mussel farming has expanded to a booming, cross-country lovefest with the bivalve. “We ship 1.5 million pounds a year now,” says seafood guru and president of Taylor Shellfish, Bill Taylor. Why the sudden interest? Many countries consider mussels a staple on their menus, but Americans have been slower to bolster their palates with them. Jon Rowly, seafood editor for Gourmet Magazine and PR man for Taylor Shellfish explains, “They’re fun, they’re tasty, and they’re easy to cook once you get the hang of it. Mussels are colorful and beautiful to look at and very versatile.” An added bonus: they are also considered a “green” seafood. “Mussels are sustainable. They are cultivated, and you don’t have to feed them. Monterey Aquarium lists mussels as a seafood you should definitely be eating.”
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