Sounds like a nice mussel marinara over fresh angel hair pasta to me. With a big glass of chilled lambrosco. Ahhh days of my grandmothers simple delish cooking.
Yeah I see the similarity but they're definitely mussels once opened, will post pics - did them grilled with a mayo/garlic/harissa paste inside and goats cheese topping.
will posts pics shortly.
... decision - don't bother buying them again - tough, rubbery after steaming gently over white wine and then grilling lightly.
I've used NZ greenlips many times but these puppies are 5 times the size of the regular ones. I think they'd probably be ok in a tagine if they were cooked down to a softness.
I'm probably very wrong, but they look suspiciously like fresh water mussels!
On the Belgian food market we only find sea water mussels that come mostly from Holland, more specific, the province "Zeeland" (yes, with double "e"). We consume millions of kilos of them in Belgium. Our "moules frites" is one of our national dishes.
Greenlip mussels are known but hardly ever sold; they are a frozen product coming indeed from New Zealand on the other side of the world.
On the other hand, fresh water mussels are sold over here in... garden centers and are never eaten, but serve to clean the water in ponds like koi ponds etc.
Do you have any idea if the mussels you bought are fresh or sea water specimen?
I have no idea about that, but it does give me something to research!
I'm based in Egypt and I also saw these in Cambodia when we were there for a few months this year.
They could indeed be freshwater as they did not have any scent of the ocean on them and I was fairly convinced they were frozen before, that even though they were in the fresh fish market,
Thanks again for all the useful pointers, we'll identify these puppies!
Well last night I was having dinner with my 94 yr. old father. We had ordered a mussel risotto. The green mussels came up in conversation. He told me that in Italy, they had always had green freshwater and saltwater mussels.
My family comes from a very well known long line of barilai. They were courted by the most famous vineyards in Europe. Well it seems my great grandfather worked so well with wood and steel he did some after hours work for one of The Families in Sicily. This is how it was told to me. He would be commissioned to make these custom handles and metal accessories for guns. He traveled back and forth to Sicily in style. Sometimes The Families design/crest would be so intricate his hands would start to cramp. The capo would send him and any family members up north to Lake Como. There he ate dozens of fresh water green mussels at almost every meal. It was said that the mussels would relieve pain, especially from arthritis. My father could not remember the town but said it was like being dropped into fairy land.
So I think everyone could be right.
Oh, he remembered that as he got older and started to enjoy the mussels, the most succulent were in the spring. Their shape even became more oval.
These are commonly referred to as horse claims the only real good way to fix them is to grind them and make them into a clam chowder there too tough to fry or using any other manner
What you've got there are freshwater clams. I recommend never eating any freshwater shellfish, especially in a foreign country where environmental laws are weak. The reason you may believe you have mussels there is because of the high concentration of calcium carbonate in fresh water clams, that give it that striking pearly gloss.
What you've got there are freshwater clams. I recommend never eating any freshwater shellfish, especially in a foreign country where environmental laws are weak. The reason you may believe you have mussels there is because of the high concentration of calcium carbonate in fresh water clams, that give it that striking pearly gloss.
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