Most mussels you'll find in the grocery store or fish market are farmed. This is because, like oysters, mussels are indiscriminate eaters; keeping them out of polluted waters is essential to ensure they're safe to eat.
Happily, unlike a lot of seafood, mussels are beneficial to the environment—mussel farming can actually help to clean dirty waters. Mussels, like a lot of shellfish, are sold and cooked live because once they die, they spoil very quickly.
At the grocery store or fish market you should look for mussels that are sold on ice and that have wet-looking, shiny shells. A dull shell is an indication that the mussel might have died.
You'll also want to ensure that the shells are tightly closed and not chipped, as these are further indications of freshness.
You'll most likely find black and blue mussels in your local market—those are the varieties that grow abundantly in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Black mussels are slightly larger and take a little longer to cook. New Zealand Green-Lipped Mussels grow exclusively in—you'll never guess—New Zealand, but are exported around the world.
Add mussels to the saltwater bath. Using your hands, agitate mussels gently to remove any debris clinging to the shells. Let mussels soak for 15 minutes.
Mussels, like most bivalves, are sold and cooked live. It's because once their immune systems flake out after death, they tend to go off rather quickly, and it's very difficult to tell how long a dead mussel has been in that state. Mussels can live out of water for a few days, but they should be kept well-chilled and stored in a breathable environment.
When you're at the fish market, make sure the mussels are kept over and under ice, and that their shells are glistening with moisture. Dry shells on the outside are a good indication of dead or dying mussels on the inside. Though wild mussels are available in certain markets, the vast majority of mussels you'll find at the market are farm-raised. The good news is that unlike a lot of farm-raised fish, mussel farms are actually beneficial to the environment. According to the Seafood Choice Alliance, a healthy mussel will filter between 10 and 15 gallons of seawater per day, which improves coastal water health.
As an added bonus, most farm-raised mussels are grown on vertical rope farms, which means that they come to market quite clean—wild mussels can house a good amount of debris from the seabed or rock walls they grew on. On top of that, farm-raised mussels are held in tanks prior to packaging and shipping, which means that the purging step—soaking the mussels in clean water until they spit out impurities—has already been done for you.
Mussels come in both dark black and green varieties. Green mussels, native to Asia, are less common, but boast a better meat-to-shell ratio. When buying mussels, I usually figure on around a half pound of shell-on mussels per person for a reasonable meal-sized portion.
I store my mussels in a bowl on the bottom shelf of the fridge with a zipper-lock bag filled with ice resting on top of them and a damp paper towel or kitchen towel on top. Stored this way, mussels will last for several days in the fridge. Before you cook them, you need to clean them. The short answer to this question is that yes, it is cruel to cook shellfish and crustaceans alive, because although they have less extensive nervous systems than humans do, they still feel pain.
It is the plankton and other microscopic creatures eaten by the muscle that are still in its digestive tract when caught and cooked — ie. Earing dead mussels can be dangerous to your health. The meat of dead mussels deteriorates, increasing your risk of microorganism contamination, food poisoning, infectious disease and other health problems. So from September through to April you can feast on oysters and mussels, but in the summer months they are to be avoided?
First and foremost, when it comes to seafood it is always best to eat seasonal. Peak season for fresh mussels is October to March.
You can buy mussels in their shells year round.
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