Des moules, des frites.

It's been a while since we've had "moules frites" for the last time, but while strolling in K-Citymarket Easton, we noticed they had mussels from Sweden. These are actually close to the mussels you can find in France - unlike the blue mussels from Danmark - as they are quite small in size, which is preferable for degustation. And so back at home, we decided to cook "moules à la crème" - mussels in cream sauce - which is one of the most popular way to do it in the north of France and in Belgium (we have long history of shared gastronomy with our belgian cousins). In a deep marmite, add half a chopped onion or shallot, some chopped parsley, salt & black pepper, and a full glass of dry Muscadet. Bring to the boil, add the mussels for a couple of minutes, then a few spoons of thick rich cream. The thicker the better. Stir a bit and serve immediately with crispy fries. Now, there are several possible declinations from this recipe: without cream (à la marinière), the wine can be replace by beer (the belgian way), or cider (à la normande), Cheeses like Roquefort or Camembert can be added to the cream sauce, or cream with curry powder, then with tomato and chorizo sausage (the spanish way), etc... There are a lot of recipes to try.

On a side note, this dish is a perfect exemple of home vs restaurant. We spent something like 35€ for 2kg of mussels, onion, parsley and a bottle of wine for 2. Now, if you go to restaurant "Belge Bar & Bistro" on Keskuskatu, you will pay per person...

... Wine not included of course. Oh and btw, there are no such things as lobster broth, creamy garlic broth or beure blanc with mussels. At least not where I'm from. 

(in France you pay between 12-15€ max for 1kg of mussels + fries)