Tag: muscadet

Bouchot Mussels

17 November 2022

When you buy champagne, Cornish Clotted cream, Parmigiano-Reggiano or Kalamate Olives, you want to be sure it’s really champagne, clotted cream, Parmigiano or a Kalamata olive. There are various ways of protecting food (and wine) for instance by law, by creating and protecting a brand, or by systems such as the Appellation d’Origine Protégée (AOP) also known as Protected Designation of Origin (PDO). AOP/PDO is based on unique aspects of a region. For instance, the AOP for Comté cheese reflects the use of milk from specific cows from a region in the French Jura with a unique flora. This determines the cheese, its flavour and quality.

Another system focuses on the way food is produced. If this is done in a unique traditional way, the product can be labelled with Spécialité Traditionnelle Garantie (STG) or Traditional Speciality Guaranteed (TSG).

Bouchot Mussels carry both labels and they come with a special logo. Obviously, you wonder why.
The mussels grow in a unique way, benefitting from the large tide near Mont-Saint-Michel in Normandy. They grow on ropes strung from wooden poles (so called bouchots) in the sea. During a significant part of the day the mussels sit above sea level and therefore they grow slowly. The influence of the tide makes the bouchot mussels typical for the region and the use of poles makes the way the mussels grow unique.

Perhaps you also wonder if these aspects have an impact on the mussel and its taste. The answer is yes. They are small, clean, very tasty, flavourful, juicy and meaty plus they are free of sand and grit.

Preparing bouchot mussels is very simple, because adding flavours will only interfere with the already delicious taste.

Perhaps a bit more expensive than other mussels, but given they are so very tasty and rich, we think it’s perfectly fine to buy less than usual.

Wine Pairing

We enjoyed our Bouchot Mussels with a glass of Muscadet Sèvre et Maine, Domaine Raphaël Luneau. The wine originates from the Loire Valley and is made with 100% Melon de Bourgogne. The wine is stored on its ‘lees’ for several months before bottling. Lees are leftover yeast particles. They add flavour and structure to the wine.
In general, you’re looking for a white wine with minerality, fruit, structure and expression. It must be aromatic with a long taste.

What You Need (Starter)

  • 500 grams of Bouchot Mussels
  • White wine
  • One garlic Glove
  • Parsley
  • Crusted Bread

What You Do

Finely chop the garlic and the parsley. Add white wine to a pan and add the garlic. Bouchot mussels don’t release much liquid when you cook them, so use a little more wine than you would do with regular mussels. Leave for 10 minutes. Clean the mussels. Cook the mussels as quickly as you can, lid on the pan, until they are open. Add the parsley and combine. Serve immediately on a hot (soup) plate.

Prawn Cocktail

6 January 2021

Back in the 1960’s a Prawn Cocktail was a very popular hors d’œuvre. Simple and tasteful, always a pleasure. Today it’s not just unfashionable, it’s close to being hilarious (as far as food can be hilarious). A chef serving a Prawn Cocktail? You must be kidding me!

The two essential elements of a Prawn Cocktail are Prawns and Cocktail Sauce. Yes, indeed, another invention from the 1960’s: Cocktail Sauce. In most cases something in a jar or mayonnaise mixed with powder. But don’t underestimate Cocktail Sauce. It works really well with (cooked) seafood.

Prawns in this case must be grey shrimps, crevette grise, grijze garnalen, Nordseegarnele, quisquilla gris, the common shrimp also known as Crangon Crangon. Preferably home cooked and peeled, but home peeled is also fine. The peeled once have travelled half the world (because they were peeled in a low-wage-country), were twice frozen and treated with food preservatives leading to a loss of quality.

Basically there are two ways of serving the dish: serve the cocktail sauce in a champagne coupe with the prawns hanging on the rim of the glass or as a cocktail, so with multiple layers in the glass.

Wine Pairing

We enjoyed our Prawn Cocktail with a glass of Muscadet Sèvre et Maine sur Lie produced by Domaine Raphael Luneau. This is a very aromatic wine with a strong flavour and a long finish, which goes really well with the taste of the shrimps and the velvety sauce. The term ‘sur lie’ indicates that during a few months the wine stayed in contact with the dead yeast cells left over after fermentation. This technique makes the wine more complex.
In general a fresh, light wine with a clear acidity, such as a Muscadet Sèvre et Maine, will go very well with seafood.

What You Need

  • 200 gram of unpeeled (and uncooked) Grey Shrimps
  • Black Pepper
  • Common Corn Salad
  • Walnuts
  • For the Cocktail Sauce
    • (Home made) Mayonnaise
    • Ketchup
    • Worcestershire Sauce
    • Horseradish (preferably fresh)
    • Lemon
    • Vinegar
    • Mustard
    • Tabasco Sauce

What You Do

Cook the shrimps for 2 or 3 minutes in water with a pinch of salt. Let cool. Peel the shrimps. This is time consuming! Feel free to keep the outer shell and the tails; they will make for excellent stock.
Combine two tablespoons of mayonnaise with three or four teaspoons of ketchup, two teaspoons of Worcestershire sauce, one teaspoon of grated horseradish, one teaspoon of vinegar and one teaspoon of mustard. Now it’s a matter of tasting and adjusting. Feel free to add some lemon juice. The cocktail sauce needs a bit of a punch, so add a few drops of Tabasco sauce. The cocktail sauce can be stored in the refrigerator for up to two days.
Coarsely crush two or three walnuts. Mix the shrimps with some black pepper.
Add some leaves of the common corn salad to the glass, sprinkle some walnut over the leaves, then a generous helping of cocktail sauce and finish with the peeled shrimps. Don’t forget to play some nice music from the 1960’s, for instance Helen Shapiro’s Walkin’ Back to Happiness.

Prawn Cocktail ©cadwu
Prawn Cocktail ©cadwu