Jane! Come outside and say that! 
As someone who has had spells of months at a time cooking moules 3 x p.w. I reckon celery is as necessary as onions. 1 stick celery … but I let it soften for some time before I add the onion. I wouldn’t want it crunchy but the flavour, not just with moules but any ‘sauce’ based on softening down onions, is a real bonus.
Yeah… and their frites!
When travelling back to the UK, we used to drive to the ferry port at Zeebrugge. Arriving early for the P&O sailing, we went to the old harbour (interesting called the “seaside!” where there were a couple of restaurants in the basin and one in particular - Bistro Wittekerke was our particular favourite. A leisurely lunch and then a short drive to book in on the ferry - wonderful.
I used to live in Antwerp and the mosselen en frietjes are fantastic!
When my father was serving in B.A.O.R. we used to do Ostende - Dover - Ostende. We passed through Brussels. We always stopped outside the train station. It was my job [aged 9-10-11] with my 2-3 years of French to buy paper cones of frites.
My mum always had a few Belgian coins handy as we used to visit friends in Louvain.
On one occasion I came back empty handed - the Belgians had lopped a couple of noughts of the currency and our coins were useless!
I really prefer moules mariniere.
The frites are excellent, but I’ll stick to my french recipe thankyou.
It’s marinière I do, too - twice last week. I’ve cut back from 3x p.w.
I was getting a bit cocky with the ones that were not open wide but just ‘ajar’, after their steam bath. I was paying for this insouciance the following day.
Some on here will obviously find this heresy, but I find moulés marinière a bit dull now. But mussels are a cheap and sustainable form of protein so I’d like something else to do with apart from MM or a spaghetti “quasi vongole”.
Ideas?
You can always put some curry powder in as well.
There are lots of mussel recipes on line.
I sometimes tuck them (out of their shells of course)… into a “mixed fish” mashed-potato-topped pie … having added a dash of pastis to the liquor…
I too have suffered from eating bad mussels, but from a restaurant.
They were the ones that have been frozen, no shells and they must have been hanging about from the day before.
I was ill for three days!
Not a fan of curry powder. The majority of recipes online are variants of steamed mussels in their shells, or weird things like quiche with brie and mussels that doesn’t tempt my taste buds. So keen for people’s real experiences…pastis mussel fish pie sounds appealing, so that’s one good idea, thanks.
“Sortie à la Mer” 2014 … was the first time I tasted mussels with curry flavour… a fun weekend with our gang…
Blue d’Auvergne sauce. I’ve never cooked it but I have eaten it a couple of times and very nice. I am sure there will be a recipe on line
I had a boatyard on the Tamar for 7 years. It was 7 miles upstream from The Narrows at Devonport but tidal, right up to Morwelham Quay, a further 7 miles upstream.
Despite the freshwater draining off soggy Bodmin Moor and the sea flooding in twice daily, the Tamar is a dodgy place to source edibles. The Tamar valley at this point was the biggest arsenic, tin and copper mining area in Europe, in Victorian times.
At The Silver Mine, 1/4 mile down the lane from the yard, the spoil heap is completely free of even brambles, well over 100 years after mining ceased.
In addition, the village of Bere Alston had, in my time at least [92-99] a sewer that ran untreated sewage into this famous salmon river.
Last but not least, the river shows raised levels of radioactivity due to the nuclear subs docks at Devonport.
With all this in mind, my shipwright decided to try the ‘wild’ oysters that can be found further downstream. He was extremely sick. On the basis that he might just have picked a bad one, he tried again. Same result.
You can see the high tension lines crossing the river over the old mine.
The cables are just the right height to cause confusion to the many flocks of birds that used the river as a m/way. Go over or go under? The 110,00 volts can’t have helped them decide.
One day the same chap came in off the river with a freshly killed Canada goose. It had flown into a power line. Next day his wife, my PA, brought in Canada goose breast sandwiches. I have never actually eaten muddy pond weed but from the smell of it, that’s what Canada goose breast tastes of.
'orrible
Don’t think one’s mentioned badger roadkill. In the early 80s I used to get a lift from a colleague who’d do early morning cycle rides with a large Bowie knife in his saddlebag (making them was his other pastime - Bowie knives, not saddlebags) in order to collect roadkill. He often gave me badger haunches which needed venison type prep - red wine marinade, juniper berries etc. However, in autumn they could become a bit greasy - animal building up its winter fat store and Dijon mustard or sherry vinegar would be added to the marinade.
Haven’t eaten badger for more than thirty years.
Prefer beaver
I’m certainly not going to discuss that sort of preference!
With Chilli?
You should have watched “Springwatch” this week…lots of beaver to enjoy 
