Seafoods: Shellfish Cooking

Shellfish Cooking

Mussels are bivalve mollusc filter feeders. This means that they have two identical shells that cover and protect them and they feed by consuming plankton and other microscopic organisms from the huge amounts of water that they filter every day (10 - 20 gallons).Due to the way that mussels feed, it is vital that the mussel population is not depleted from our rivers or steams, as without them our waters would not be as clean.The most popular mussels on the market are the blue mussel and the green-lipped mussel.Blue mussels can be found in cold and warm waters all over the world, however many of them are found along the northern Pacific and Atlantic coasts. Almost 300 different species can be found in the waters of the east coast of North America alone; although very few of them are edible.Green-lipped mussels are native to the waters of New Zealand and surrounding areas and the majority of this type of mussel is produced in New Zealand.The protecting shells of the blue mussel are smooth, glossy and dark blue or navy in colour, whilst the juicy meat contained within may range from a bright orange to a pale cream.The difference in colour of the meat has nothing to do with a difference in taste, although some do say that the orange meat is fleshier and tastier.The orange meat is found in the shell of a mature female mussel, whilst the pale cream meat mussels are males or immature females.Mussels can grow in the wild or as is most popular nowadays, due to a huge demand and consumption, they can also be cultured or farmed. If you buy mussels from fish markets or supermarkets, they will most probably come from aquaculture farms and in Europe it is virtually impossible to get hold of wild mussels.