Darina Allen: How to cook with mussels and my favourite ways of eating them

Whether paired with a creamy, white wine sauce or a spiced Goan curry, mussels are the basis of a meal that is ready in minutes

Mussels Goan style

Prawns, oysters, lobsters are all highly prized on the shellfish popularity stakes but it baffles me why mussels don’t seem to be revered in the same way. This week, at my local fishmonger, Ballycotton Seafood, a 1-kilo net bag of spanking-fresh Glenbeigh mussels for €5. So few euros for such a burst of deliciousness — plus mussels have the most impressive nutrient profile of all shellfish.

They boost our immune system and are properly sustainable. They are cultivated on ropes suspended from floating rafts in the clean waters of various bays around the Irish coastline. They appear to be environmentally benign and some research seems to indicate that their cultivation has a beneficial effect on the marine ecosystem.