Summer also heralds the mussel season… A large part of those we eat come from the Netherlands (around 92% are mussels from Zeeland). But now, Belgian mussels are appearing in supermarkets and on the menus of certain restaurants; thanks to the initiative of the Colruyt group (large distribution company?). Mussels are currently being collected off the coast of Nieuwpoort.
It’s the summer essential: mussels. But this time on your plates, they are Belgian. The first of the season and they already seem to delight your taste buds. “I didn’t even know we had them in Belgium“, indicates a restaurant customer.”Generally, they come from Zeeland. This is the first time I’ve tasted Belgian ones..”, adds his companion.
Rope breeding
They come straight from the North Sea off the coast of Nieuwpoort. These North Sea fishermen know the way to this sea farm by heart. This was built 2 years ago by a Belgian mass distribution company. The mussels are submerged underwater. “There are millions of larvae in the sea. We dip ropes and they cling to them“, explains Stijn van Hoestenberghe, head of the marine farm for the Colruyt group.
Their breeding is carried out on ropes suspended from others. This technique makes it possible to preserve the seabed, but also to harvest mussels after 1 and a half years of cultivation. “The inks and the strings, the installation… Everything is new. Mussels can grow quickly there“, poursuit Stijn van Hoestenberghe.
35% meat.
At first glance, Belgian mussels are very fleshy: “35% mussel is meat. When they come from seabed culture, it’s 25%.“, confirms the manager. The season has just started for this summer and the fishermen are counting on a harvest of 50 tonnes, 8 times more than last year.
Belgian mussels at the restaurant
The big news this year is their arrival in restaurants. For Marc, head chef, this is a great first. “Usually, we work with molds that come from France. Here, these are string molds and I think we’re going to make some good recipes. I just have to cook them in white wine“, says Marc Volkaerts, head chef at the restaurant ‘Les tilleuls’.
On today’s menu: a starter based on mussels and cauliflower. But due to lack of quantity, Marc will only be able to cook them for 1 month. So you might as well take advantage of them and taste them in restaurants, or buy them in supermarkets.
The Belgian consumes on average 2 kg of mussels per year.
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