Why should we eat mussels?

Well aside from being utterly delicious and nutritious they are also convenient and easy to cook. Not to forget that they are grown in abundance in our Australian waters with almost no impact on the environment.

Blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) are the most common mussels served across the country. You can pick up a kg in the shops for as little as $10 these days. They are kept alive out of water for more than 10 days in tidy vac bags, easy to transport and store. Making it possible to have fresh mussels in the fridge for dinner. A lot of mussels are grown on Australia”s southern coastline and around Tasmania, with naturally clean water full of plankton and other microscopic sea creatures for the mussels to filter out.

Farming mussels has very little impact on the environment, with.the mussels often grown on ropes exposed to the oceans currents and tides. This way they can filter the water to obtain the nutrients that are needed to grow. It takes about 12 to 15 months for them to be market ready.. These little farmed beauties are a great source of protein, omega 3, zinc, vitamin b12 and selenium.

When we get down to the business of cooking and eating mussels there are a few things we need to be aware of. Never cook and more importantly to remember is never eat a mussel that was dead before it was cooked. You should only work with live mussels. You know that they are still living when the shells close after a few taps. Any mussels that remain open have died and need to be discarded. Once your mussels are checked and safe to eat it doesn’t take much to cook them and can also be eaten raw. Just ask the French. I love cooking mussels in tomato with chilli, garlic, basil and olive oil. I guess that’s my go to but I keep coming up with new recipes because these things are so versatile and can bring a gourmet touch to any meal.
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So come on Australia, there is nothing to lose and so much to gain by including mussels in your diet.