French · Starter
Moules Mariniere
A Norman twist on the marinière — dry cider instead of wine gives orchard acidity that flatters sweet Mediterranean mussels
- Prep
- 15 min
- Cook
- 12 min
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
- Mussels, cleaned and debearded — 2 kg
- Dry cider — 250 ml
- Shallots, finely chopped — 100 g
- Celery, fine dice — 50 g
- Garlic, sliced — 10 g
- Unsalted butter — 50 g
- Crème fraîche — 100 g
- Flat-leaf parsley, chopped — 15 g
- Thyme — 3 sprigs
- Bay leaf — 1
- Black pepper — 1 g
Method
- Discard any mussels that stay open when tapped.
- Sweat shallots, celery and garlic in butter in a large lidded pot, 4 min, no colour.
- Add cider, thyme and bay; boil 1 min.
- Add mussels, cover, and steam on full heat 4–5 min, shaking twice, until all are open.
- Lift mussels into bowls with a spider; discard any that stayed shut.
- Whisk crème fraîche into the broth off the boil, add parsley and pepper; taste — mussel liquor rarely needs salt.
- Pour broth over the mussels through the last 2 cm of the pot (grit settles at the bottom).