Best moules in Brittany !

[Miki]

It's official we have the bestest mussels in all of  France here in Brittany and going by the ones we tasted yesterday,  I am not surprised [:)]

http://www.expatica.com/source/site_article.asp?subchannel_id=25&story_id=32154

[Cassis]

As long as Brittany doesn't try to nick le Mont St Michel!  Quote from the article:

Things

very nearly ended differently however for the Breton moule grower and

his fellow AOC crusaders, when their campaign raised the hackles of

mussel farmers in neighbouring Normandy.

"The

Mont Saint Michel is not in the mussel growing region, which is

entirely in Brittany. Everyone knows the Mont is not in Brittany but

Normandy," said Norman mussel farmer Joseph Costard.

In the end however a compromise to this latest in a long line of Breton-Norman squabbles was found.

Norman

mussel growers will be allowed to include pictures of the Mont Saint

Michel on their labels but only bay Bretons will have the right to use

the coveted AOC tag.

Can't see what the Normans were getting so worked up over though - the bay straddles both regions.  I think they're just a bit jealous of not having thought up the same sort of marketing ruse. [;-)]

[Miki]

Plan B, is for us to nick back the Mont when the work gets done in a few (read several years) years time.

The river will be re-routed to put the Mont back in Breton hands [;-)]

Not sure what the Normans will put on their labels then ?

[Cassis]

Expect to see Will at the head of a Norman invasion party!

[Dick Smith]

Well, the Mont hasn't been Norman all that long - nicked by Guillaume in 1064 as I recall. As shown in the tapestry.

Had some superb oysters last week - from the local Champion. Plumptious.

[Just Katie]

Hello Mr Smith, where have you been lately?

Errm apart from buying oysters that is[:)]

[Cassis]

Back from holiday?  Nice tan? 

[Dick Smith]

I'm here in France. (Oh gods, she'll complain again!)

Had a lot of trouble last couple of weeks trying to make an old US iMac work, bit it didn't. Or at least it did, but didn't like France Telecom's lines and then blew the main trip...

So back on the laptop, no worries.

Apparently I missed some fireworks? (PM me or someone else will get banned and it might be me).

Had some roast chicken tonight as Julie was feeling a bit dickie (you know what I mean, stop smirking at the back) and it were proper grand, all tasty and like chicken ought to be. Dead simple. Though we did have tinned peas, because I like them, when I was a kid we were too poor to have tinned peas, we had to have fresh. Never understood why it's called shucking peas. Unless it's onomatopoeia.

[Cassis]

You mean Julie tells you off for spending too much time on the computer?  Never! [:-))]

[Just Katie]

Had a nice drop of wine then Dick?[:)]

[Tresco]

[quote user="Cassis"]You mean Julie tells you off for spending too much time on the computer?  Never! [:-))]
[/quote]

No no Cassis, it was someone else who...oh never mind. I got it, Dick[;-)]

[Viv]

Do you have your oysters raw or cooked Dick?

I only tried them once raw and thought they had the texture of phlegm [Www]

[Frederick]

A constant supply of mussels are shipped from Poole to Brittany......how do you know when you see them on the plate or taste them they are not Poole ones ......and you are eating Dorsets finest .

[Miki]

Quite right, we even know the shipper in some instances but when one

buys them from our normal place in Viviers, the odds of them coming

from Dorset is less than slim to practically non existant. As for shop

sold, most of the time they will have their place of origin. In a

resto, sure, who knows but any half respectful place will tell you

their supllier or the place of origin.

The point of this thread, is that any sold under the appelation will be

100% guaranteed to come from the baie producers, if even one producer

was thought to be mixing others in, there would be one hell of a

furore...................

I have been through this before with a man I met on a B.F Ferry who

exports mussels and other produce here and uses our local transport

company, not him are you ?

[Tresco]

How bizarre. I thought this thread had been deleted, as it has just disappeared from the 'active' list. I found it by using 'search'

Can anyone explain how that happened?

Edit: Back in 'active' so all's well! Still, it's the kind of thing that could cause tension.[Www]

[Miki]

Tresco,

No idea, it was here all the time for me, well I don't know if it was when I wasn't here though.....[;-)]

It's a memory thing, have you been eating dodgy Normandy mussels

without the Mont label? That can play havoc with the old

cells.......[:)]

[Tresco]

No I never eat anything that squirms, Miki, which is a disadvantage where I live [:D]

It must have been a glitch of some sort. Sorry for the derail: As you were!.[:D]