17 Mar Pale Ale Mussels

“Crying cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh!” So goes the old tune that made Molly Malone famous. It’s a reminder that these delicious little bivalves are living things, though it can be hard to equate them with life as we know it.

This St Patrick’s Day, I’ll be celebrating with mussels cooked in some delicious Irish Pale Ale. Mussels are our most abundant shellfish and they’re an inexpensive way to enjoy the fruits of our seas. Seek out Irish mussels in your local fishmongers. Mussels are among the most palatable of shellfish and are a good gateway to crustaceans. Not only are they affordable but their plumpness and pretty orange hue make them a feast for the eyes as well for the belly.

If you want to learn more about mussels you can put The Connemara Mussel Festival in your diary. It’s taking place on the May Bank Holiday from 28^th to 30^th of April in Tully Cross on the Renvyle Penninsula. Another great source of mussels is food writer Máirín úí Chomáin’s cookbook Irish Mussel Cuisine, inspired by the Connemara Mussel Festival. You can buy a copy for €8 on the Festival’s website at connemaramusselfestival.com.

Instead of going for a cream-based broth or a white wine base, I’m using Irish Pale Ale for these mussels and Cork-based Eight Degrees Brewing are one of the original and best breweries in the Irish craft beer movement. I’ve paired these mussels with some toasted sourdough for mopping up the pale ale broth. You could make your own homemade chips if you wanted to do a St Patrick’s version of Moules Frites. Happy St Patrick’s Day!

Ingredients

1 tablespoon of soft butter

1 small onion

2 bacon rashers

2 sprigs of fresh thyme

3 garlic cloves

150ml pale ale, plus more to serve

1kg mussels

More fresh thyme or parsley

Sourdough bread to serve

Method

1. Start by scrubbing and debearding your mussels. Discard any mussels that have opened already. They are dead and aren’t safe to eat. Debearding (a delightful phrase) means to remove the beard-like threads that the mussels can grow. Set the mussels aside until ready to use.

2. Heat the butter in a large pot with a lid over a medium to high heat. Finely dice the onion and roughly chop the bacon. Add the onion, bacon and whole thyme sprigs to the butter and cook gently for about ten minutes until the onion is translucent.

3. Finely dice the garlic cloves and add to the onion and bacon. Cook for a further couple of minutes until you can smell the garlic starting to cook.

4. Add the pale ale to the pot and bring to a simmer. Increase the heat if needed. Now add the mussels to the pot. Place the lid on the pot and cook for about five to eight minutes, shaking the pot from time to time. Cook until most of the mussels have opened up. Remove from the heat and discard any mussels that haven’t opened.

5. Serve the mussels with the pale ale broth and some fresh thyme or parsley sprinkled on top and some toasted sourdough on the side.

Storecupboard Essential: Howling Gale Irish Pale Ale

Eight Degrees Brewing is a microbrewery in Michelstown County Cork and they say their Howling Gale Irish Pale Ale is so crisp and refreshing that it’s like “blitzing down the Ballyhouras on your bike with an icy wind in your face.” The citrus tones in this Pale Ale makes it an ideal partner for fish, whether you’re cooking with it or drinking it. Find out more about Eight Degrees Brewing on www.eightdegrees.ie.

This recipe first appeared in The Irish Independent on Thursday 16th March 2017