Aishling Moore: How to cook restaurant-level mussels that will wow

Aishling Moore's Mussels Chermula. Picture: Chani Anderson

Mussels are marvelous shellfish to get into cooking at home, they’re a one pot, economical meal and the ultimate fast food cooking in a matter of moments. Once the somewhat laborious task of cleaning and sorting through the mussels is out of the way, the cooking is pure joy.

Chermoula is a herb and spice-based paste, hailing from North Africa: there are many variations of this recipe. It’s most often found served with grilled fish but is also great with vegetables, chicken and works a treat with shellfish.

I first came across chermoula when I began working at Elbow Lane. There, it was first served with grilled whole fish. In my time it had a number of
applications.

Whole langoustines were sliced in half, placing the knife right between the eyes of the crustacean and continuing right down and through the tail. The
langoustines were then tossed in the chermoula paste and grilled in their shells over the oak fire grill. The smoke and char of a live fire grill marries beautifully with the earthy nature of this paste.

We later began serving bowls of steamed mussels in their own cooking released juices with a spoon of chermoula added to the pot, right before serving.

Once heat is applied to this herb and spice paste it becomes the most vibrant concoction.

Treat this weekend’s recipe as a blue print and use what you have on hand. Sometimes I’ll add a few sprigs of mint to the mix, other times fresh red or green chilli. The quantities here make more than what you’ll need for a pot of mussels. Leftover paste is wonderful slathered over a fillet of pollock or hake and baked in a preheated oven.

Chermoula mussels

recipe by:Aishling Moore

This weekend’s recipe is a moreish pot of chermoula-scented steamed mussels.

Servings

4

Course

 Side

Ingredients

• 2kg mussels

• 150ml dry white wine

• For the chermoula paste

• ½ tsp cumin seeds

• ½ tsp coriander seeds

• 1 onion

• 4 cloves of garlic

• 1 tsp smoked paprika

• Juice and zest of 1 lemon

• 200ml rapeseed oil

• 1 bunch coriander

• 1 bunch parsley

• Sea salt

Method

1. To clean the mussels

2. Fill a large bowl with water and add the mussels to the water. Discard any mussels that have broken shells or do not close when tapped.

3. Using a small paring knife remove any barnacles from the shells and the beard of the mussel. The beard is what the mussel uses to attach itself to the surface of which it grows.

4. Rinse the cleaned mussels in a colander and refrigerate until just before cooking.

5. To make the chermoula paste

6. Place a small dry pan on medium heat.

7. Add the cumin and coriander seeds and toast for a couple of minutes until fragrant. Remove and bash in a pestle and mortar until ground.

8. Peel and chop the onion and mince the garlic. Place in a food processor or blender.

9. Add the smoked paprika, juice and zest of lemon, rapeseed oil, parsley and coriander. Season with a pinch of sea salt.

10. Blend on high speed until a paste is formed.

11. Place in the refrigerator until cooking the mussels.

12. To cook the mussels

13. Pre-heat a heavy based pot on a medium – high heat for 3 minutes. Drain the mussels well and check again at this stage for any that may have opened, that you’ll need to discard.

14. Add the drained mussels to the pot, immediately after adding the remaining 150ml of white wine and place a tight-fitting lid on the pot. Give the pot a little shake and leave to cook covered for 3 minutes.

15. Remove the lid and give this mussels a good stir. At this stage all the mussels should be cooked and open, discard any that haven’t opened. Add 3 heaped tablespoons of the chermoula paste and mix well. Bring the pot back to the boil and taste to adjust. Serve in warm bowls.

Fish Tales

Mussels should only be cooked when alive so discard any that have cracked shells or do not close when tapped. They should smell fresh and of the seaside.

If your are purchasing mussels the day before you intend on cooking, I recommend storing them cleaned in the refrigerator covered with a damp tea towel.

You can skip the step of toasting the cumin and coriander seeds if you would prefer to use ground spices.

You can use a spice grinder instead of a pestle and mortar if you would prefer.

This recipe makes extra chermoula paste that you can store in the freezer.

The chermoula paste can be made a day or two ahead of cooking.

Mussels are naturally high in salt, so I have only added a small pinch to this chermoula paste.