Mussels: when are they at their best?

[Loiseau]

I was once told in a restaurant that it was not a good time of year for mussels.  We ordered them anyway (stupid, or what?) and indeed they were right:  the flesh was shrivelled and small, rather than plump and creamy.

Of course I have quite forgotten what time of year that was. 

So can anyone tell me when mussels are really at their very best?

Angela

[LEO]

[quote user="Loiseau"]

I was once told in a restaurant that it was not a good time of year for mussels.  We ordered them anyway (stupid, or what?) and indeed they were right:  the flesh was shrivelled and small, rather than plump and creamy.

Of course I have quite forgotten what time of year that was. 

So can anyone tell me when mussels are really at their very best?

Angela

[/quote]

They are likely to be at their best , from late October through to February/March.

Leo

[Loiseau]

Blimey, Leo!  I thought all self-respecting memembers of the forum would be asleep by now - unless they were Down Under! [:D]

Many thanks for such a speedy reply!

Angela

[LEO]

[quote user="Loiseau"]

Blimey, Leo!  I thought all self-respecting memembers of the forum would be asleep by now - unless they were Down Under! [:D]

Many thanks for such a speedy reply!

Angela

[/quote]

Hi Angela, your first assumtion was correct and , your thanks is appreciated.

Leo

[Jc]

As the saying goes "R in the month"-ie  September to April;tho' down in 34,you can get good ones all year round,probably due to the warmer water.

[Coco]

There again if all seafood is better in the winter (as we are told by all the restaurateurs round here who wouldn't touch oysters, St Jacques or mussels int he summer months - apparently only tourists do that!) why would warmer water help? [8-)]

[Jc]

The growing/spawning cycles are not so affected by seasonal variations.

[Innocents Abroad]

Probably the best mussles we've ever had were bought from our local Monday market - in July - and there were plenty of French people buying them.  (I should say we've also had some great ones since then too!).  We have a lady who sells oysters and mussles outside our local supermarket, only on Saturday and Sunday mornings but all through the year.  She's always sold out by lunchtime and again it's generally the locals who are queuing up, even during the Summer.

 

 

[Jc]

As said in the previous post,many French buy and eat "coquillage" all thro' the summer months but my house,shops and restaurants where I eat are all within sight of the Med.

[Loiseau]

Well, it is funny to read these divergent (?sp) replies, as I think I have always had delicious plump mussels in July/August, too.  I have a feeling that the time they were shrivelled and horrid must have been around Easter.

No mussel-farmers on the forum then?

Angela

[Dick Smith]

I think mussels are at their best when eaten à la marinière, on the dockside at Honfleur, with a couple of glasses of well-chilled Muscadet. Sur lie, of course.

[Coco]

[quote user="Jc"]As said in the previous post,many French buy and eat "coquillage" all thro' the summer months but my house,shops and restaurants where I eat are all within sight of the Med.[/quote]

You are assuming that ALL French know the right time and way to eat things, just as a lot of French people assume that ALL Brits are hopeless at cooking!  Many have no more idea about the right time to eat seafood than (please excuse me here) Angela says she does.

Most professionals will of course SELL you them all year round, they have a business to run, but most will tell you that the BEST time to eat them is in the winter.  And if you notice, most supermarkets have "Foire de St Jacques" etc from October onwards.

[ChezTinns]

Just goes to show - I thought that the best time to eat them was when there WASN'T an R in the month - May, June, July, Aug.  In fact in our area they just don't feature on menus in the winter months like they do in the summer!

 

JT

[Jc]

Supermarkets only have special offers or Faires when then are stuck with something they can't get rid of otherwise.

[Miki]

I shall speak purely on the basis of  Cancale etc i.e Baie du Mont St Michel, which many will know has a rather huge operation concerning shellfish (estimated 10-12,000 ton of mussels for start) and from this year those mussels were given AOC status.

We have neighbours and their families who have worked in the industry since the mid 50's, either with moules, oysters etc or fishing and over the years here, we have learned much of the culture behind their farming.

It has always been recognised that the mussels are not worth touching until near the end of July and then it will be, in my opinion and also gleaned from listening to folks who know much better, in August they are more than ready and will continue in to January. Only the person eating can decide if they are OK for them (wine also comes under that label !) but many will say that size is all (Mmmm heard that before) and so my thoughts go to August to Early November but as I am constantly told, adverse weather and the way the bay has silted up even worse, especially in the last decade, means change has to be a foot in the bay, to keep the culture going ( much has been done already).

The AOC label will mean a lot to the area as more and more help will now be given to ensure the yield gets stronger and quality even better, year after year. Moules will be sold all year round, they are grown all over France and indeed Europe and beyond but I speak only for my region, because many factors apply in the growing of said shell fish, what aplies in the bay, does not in any way,  mean the same thing applies elsewhere.

Oysters, now who doesn't know that Xmas sees a massive display in all the supermarkets and around here, all along the bay as well in small wooden huts and modern purpose built shops. Who doesn't have a bottle of Champagne and a couple of dozen Oysters for Xmas morning breakfast...OTT ?  well at 30 euros or so, for 4 people, it is hardly bank breaking but by golly it makes one feel like the rich themselves must feel !!

And it is normally my only gift anyway .................................. I know, bring on the band !!

So, the way I have had it drummed in to me here, Oysters can be eaten almost all year round but the R in the month really does mean a lot to the purists, probably because out of those months, there is that milky look within the Oyster, still edible though ! but as I said, Xmas being in the middle of the season and thus, many will say it is the best month !

[Jc]

You're talking cold Atlantic;I'm talking warm Med..

[Russethouse]

When my friends went to Cancale in the summer they were told that you could eat oysters all year round, it depended on the type.........true or just good marketing ? Whatever the case my friends were very happy with their oysters !

[Coco]

[quote user="Jc"]Supermarkets only have special offers or Faires when then are stuck with something they can't get rid of otherwise.[/quote]

Not true AT ALL - what about foires au vins? and certainly up here near the "cold water" coasts the locals celebrate the arrival of the "coquillage" season with foires de St Jacques around the beginning of October.

However, of course I can't comment about warmer climes and when is best for seafood down there.  All I do know is that our friends who live near the Med get withdrawal symptoms of our "superior seafood" up here - their words, not mine! [;-)]

[Miki]

[quote user="Russethouse"]When my friends went to Cancale in the summer they were told that you could eat oysters all year round, it depended on the type.........true or just good marketing ? Whatever the case my friends were very happy with their oysters ![/quote]

"So, the way I have had it drummed in to me here, Oysters can be eaten

almost all year round but the R in the month really does mean a lot to

the purists, probably because out of those months, there is that milky

look within the Oyster, still edible though ! but as I said, Xmas being

in the middle of the season and thus, many will say it is the best

month "

This is from my knowledge, gained by eating the stuff but mainly by being given first hand information from those that work (and some families have done for over 50 years) anything else I am told by others, sorry simply won't wash, well unless those foks have worked with and eaten them for 51 years or more of course, then I will listen [:)]

As for differing kinds, well Cancale has pieds du cheval and the more normal varying size oysters and they will and can be eaten whenever but as stated, some folks do not like to eat them when they contain the milky look, some do, even saying they like the different tase. Me...well I prefer them without but of course, anyone with an interest in the culture will want people to buy them all year round, so as I said before, it is in the hands of the buyer and if they are happy, well so is the seller but for many purists or gourmands, they know when they prefer to eat their moules and oysters [:)]

[Just Katie]

I recently was invited around somebodys house for moules.  Half cooked, beards still in tact and a couple of limpets stuck on here and there for free?  Is this normal in France?

[Beryl]

Not when I have eaten them...but that is only at restaurants .

I thought the difference in colour that Miki referred to was due to sex, eg that the male's were bright orange and the females paler or the other way round.

[Miki]

[quote user="beryl"]

Not when I have eaten them...but that is only at restaurants .

I thought the difference in colour that Miki referred to was due to sex, eg that the male's were bright orange and the females paler or the other way round.

[/quote]

Quoi ??

What colour Beryl ?

The milky stuff is inside and anyway, I thought that oysters batted for both sides in the sex stakes [:)]

[Miki]

Afternoon Katie,

We leave some of the firmly fixed limpets on when  cooking chez nous but beards are always a  no, no. Restos will differ in their variation in cleaning, some are perfect and other, more rough and ready places, will offer them at the table with limpets but beards are rarer, some have nice French moustaches though but they are quite chic...Oh, I see now, it was at that singer's gaff wasn't it [:)]

[Just Katie]

Hi Miki, long time no speak X

It was at Twinkles mates house.  His folks were up from the Med and brought 10 ton of moules with them.  They really were superb but I think the French are a bit more "earthy" with their food than us girly brits.

[Beryl]

[quote user="Miki"][quote user="beryl"]

Not when I have eaten them...but that is only at restaurants .

I thought the difference in colour that Miki referred to was due to sex, eg that the male's were bright orange and the females paler or the other way round.

[/quote]

Quoi ??

What colour Beryl ?

The milky stuff is inside and anyway, I thought that oysters batted for both sides in the sex stakes [:)]


[/quote]

That'll teach me to read it carefully. I was getting muddled with your oysters and Katie's mussels [8-)]

I was referring to the pale mussels and the bright orange ones, different sexes so I have been told but I don't like to look at them that closely.[geek] 

Please no, I have enough trouble swallowing something live without worrying about which side it bats for!