The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) is responsible for setting globally recognised standards for sustainable fishing and the seafood supply chain, and is on a mission to ensure that everyone is fishing – and eating – sustainably.
To raise awareness of the importance of sustainably sourced seafood, they have just launched an Ocean Cookbook for 2022. It includes collaborations with chefs and fishers from 12 countries, and highlights that by looking out for the blue MSC ecolabel when we buy seafood, we can help to create truly sustainable seas.
Here, I’ve shared a recipe from the Ocean Cookbook for 2022 which uses one of my favourite sustainable, regenerative ingredients – fresh mussels.
MUSSELS WITH FENNEL, LEMON AND SAMPHIRE DIP
Recipe by chef Jadis Schreuder, restaurateur and food author.
Ingredients
2kg MSC certified mussels (in shells)
1 lemon
2 cloves garlic (peeled and thinly sliced)
150g glasswort or samphire
1 fennel bulb
50ml extra virgin olive oil
10 fresh basil leaves
30ml dry white wine
Salt & pepper
Method
- Put all the mussels in a bowl of water and discard any that are broken, gaping open, or that float (if using live mussels). Pull out any beards from the shells and rinse any grit away.
- Warm a deep pan on medium heat and add a dash of olive oil and fry the thinly sliced garlic in it, letting the garlic colour slightly. In the meantime, remove the top and cap of the fennel and cut the fennel into thin slices, for example with a mandolin or sharp knife.
- Add the fennel to the pan with the garlic and cook for a few minutes, so the fennel starts to soften slightly. Then add the mussels to the pan, immediately put the lid on and leave to cook for a few minutes or until all the mussel shells have opened. This will draw moisture from the mussels and create a delicious broth.
- Next, prepare the glasswort / samphire dip by filling a hand blender with 2/3 of the glasswort / samphire, the fresh basil leaves, half the extra virgin olive oil, juice and zest of the lemon and season with salt and pepper.
- When the mussels have opened, deglaze the pan with white wine and add the remaining 1/3 of glasswort / samphire.
- Put the lid on for a few more minutes to steam the glasswort / samphire. Discard any mussels that have not opened BUT do not throw away the broth, it is very tasty! Serve the mussels in a deep dish with the samphire dip on the side.
To find out more about eating sustainable seafood, visit msc.org/uk/what-you-can-do/eat-sustainable-seafood.
