A World of Markets – Mussels with White Wine, Garlic, and Parsley

Without a doubt, the best thing to do when traveling is to visit the local market. Not the supermarket, although you can learn a great deal about a culture by visiting these too, but the weekly market, which is often outdoors. It’s where you see locals living their lives and going about their day-to-day routines, without any fanfare; these markets are not designed for tourists.

On a trip to France a few summers ago, we visited the city of Rennes specifically to stroll through the Marché des Lices, the second largest market in the country. Every Saturday morning there are hundreds of stands piled high with fruits and vegetables, flowers and plants, meats and cheeses, fish and fowl, breads and sausages. It was beautiful, entertaining, and delicious, covering many blocks in the center of the city. We also visited local weekday markets in other parts of the country that while smaller, with only a handful of purveyors, were no less interesting.

I have visited the farmers market in Roseau on the Caribbean island of Dominica, stands packed with fresh-picked tropical fruits. I love the markets in Oaxaca, Mexico, which sell everything imaginable, food and otherwise, including fried crickets, piled high and ready to be rolled in a tortilla. My fondest memories of the market in Umbria, Italy include massive wheels of cheese and porchetta with crispy bits of salty skin cut from whole roasted pigs. I recall pyramids of spices in every color under the sun at the markets in Cairo when I visited as a young teenager.

When traveling in the United States I visit markets as well. On a recent trip to Washington, D.C. we were diverted by a local outdoor market where they sold arts and crafts as well as all manner of food. I had the best, most fragrant strawberries I have ever nibbled on while perusing the aisles of the weekly farmers market where my brother lives in California. One summer while in college I bought huge aromatic bouquets of basil outside of Faneuil Hall in Boston to make pesto.

My first memory of going to a local, outdoor market was with my father who would take me to the Italian Market in South Philadelphia. The stalls lining 9^th Street were filled with produce of every kind, the barkers yelling out prices so you would buy their goods. There were fish mongers and butchers in the stores and I remember the musty smell of the stands that sold live chickens, rabbits, and squab, and at Easter, baby lambs. You could buy fresh pasta and cheeses, and my favorite was the spice store with its heady scent. While the Italian Market (now as much Mexican and Vietnamese as Italian) has its own character, it is not all that different from outdoor markets the world over.

On one occasion at the Italian Market, my father bought mussels. He didn’t buy them in the market proper, but from an old, Italian man a block or two away who seemed to sell them out of his basement. I’m not sure of the origin and quality of the mussels as there was definitely something sketchy about the whole scene, but no one got sick. As is always a good idea, my father asked the purveyor how to cook them. “Just scrub them and throw them in a pot with some white wine, garlic, and parsley,” the old man said. As simple as that. The recipe has changed only a little over the years, and with a piece of toasty bread to dip in the broth, it’s as delicious as ever. A perfect example of shopping at and cooking from the local market.

Mussels with White Wine, Garlic, and Parsley

Mussels, served with a nice piece of crusty bread and a salad, make an elegant, inexpensive, and healthy dinner. As an added bonus, they are one of the most environmentally friendly types of seafood you can buy. Most mussels sold today are farmed and unlike other farmed seafood, mussels do not destroy or pollute marine habitat. In addition, they don’t need added food; as filter feeders, they feed on microscopic floating algae, cleansing marine waters, keeping the algae populations in check. The Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program rates farmed mussels a “best choice.”

A pot of steamed mussels is quick and easy to make. Since they are farmed, most mussels are already cleaned, which saves time. The beards, with which they attach to a firm substrate, are usually removed (although you should always check), and they only require a quick scrub in cold, running water just before cooking.

This is a throw together recipe; there are definitely no hard and fast rules for how much of each ingredient to use, and variations abound. Add some tomatoes, chopped shallot, or different herbs. Cook them in a marinara sauce. Use green curry paste, ginger, and Thai basil. No matter what you use, they will be delicious.

serves 2, about 15 minutes

2 lbs. fresh mussels

1 cup dry white wine

2 Tbsp. olive oil

4 cloves garlic roughly chopped

1 bunch flat-leaf parsley, leaves and tender stems roughly chopped

10 drops hot sauce, such as Tabasco

½ tsp. kosher salt

½ tsp. fresh ground pepper

1. Remove the beards from the mussels, if necessary, and clean in a colander under cold, running water. Discard any mussels with cracked shells or those that do not seal shut after a minute or two.
2. Add all ingredients to a pot large enough to fit them comfortably with a tight fitting lid. Stir to combine.
3. Place the pot over a medium-high heat, cover, and steam for about five minutes, stirring or shaking the pot once or twice while cooking. Mussels are done when their shells have opened.
4. Divide cooked mussels and broth between two bowls and serve hot with toasty bread for dipping. Do not eat any mussels that have not opened on their own.

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