It's time for the new harvest of mussels. The tastiest mussels, 100% guaranteed from Zeeland waters. A moment that every fishing enthusiast looks forward to every year. Because who doesn't love mussels? A traditional Dutch product, packed with pure salty taste. Easy and quick to prepare, to eat as lunch, snack or evening meal and not expensive at all.
First Mussel experts indicate that the harvest this year is of absolute top quality. And you don't have to wait any longer because you can already enjoy real Zeeland mussels. These are so-called hanging culture mussels, mussels that hang from frayed ropes directly below the water's surface. Due to their favorable location in the water, these mussels ingest so much food that they are more suitable for consumption than the traditional bottom culture mussels. The hanging culture season therefore always starts a little earlier, at the end of May, than the bottom season, which starts later. It is exactly the same mussel (Mytilus edulis). They are not inferior to each other in taste and quality.
100% Zeeland Fish Tales, the sustainable fish brand co-owned by chef and fish expert Bart van Olphen, is the very first to bring the new harvest of mussels to the store. Fish Tales mussels are grown around Neeltje Jans by the Schot family. Neeltje Jans is synonymous with the highest quality mussels that really come from Zeeland. In addition to the guarantee of origin, all Fish Tales mussels are MSC certified, the quality mark for sustainably caught fish.
Fake Zeeland
It is anything but self-evident that mussels come 100% from Zeeland. Until recently, many mussels did not come from our own seabed at all. Many of the “Zeeland” mussels available in the Netherlands are immersed briefly in the Oosterschelde after they have been imported from Denmark, Germany, England or Ireland and then sold as a Zeeland product. The Zeeland mussel fishermen are having an extra difficult time this year because they are missing an important sales market due to the catering lockdown. By buying the Zeeland product you also support the local Zeeland mussel fishermen.
The new harvest of Fish Tales mussels are exclusively available from Wednesday 27 May at Albert Heijn.
The Zeeland Mussel cookbook
Looking for mussel inspiration? Bart van Olphen made Het Zeeuwse Mossel cookbook, a book with forty delicious mussel recipes. Worldly recipes, cold and warm, for weekdays or a nice party, as a snack or main course, but in which you always really taste Zeeland again. Think of a mussel cocktail (instead of a shrimp cocktail). Crispy mussels fried in panko, with a homemade celery remoulade. And mussels cooked in beer. Or – also very tasty – fried mussels on toast. And did you know that you can also eat mussels raw, just like an oyster?
The Zeeland Mussel cookbook, Kosmos publisher, author Bart van Olphen. €18.50.
Photo credits:David Loftus©
