BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 
1 18 
The French people are noted for their excellent preparations of mussels for the table. 
The characteristic feature of nearly all their methods is to serve them on the half shell. 
From Audot’s “La Cuisinere de la Ville et de la Campagne” I have taken the following 
recipes : 
MUSSELS (ENTRIES). 
Choose mussels which are fresh, heavy, and of medium size, scrape and wash them through sev- 
eral waters. (In order that one may have no fear of them, it is necessary to cleanse them for five or six 
hours in water which is renewed several times. Not only are they able to reject the impurities within 
them, but they gain in quality. It is necessary to avoid using them from April to September, during 
which time they are apt to be unhealthy.) 
A la marinikre . — Having cleaned the mussels well, place them in a saucepan with some white wine, 
a glass to 4 quarts, or else a spoonful of vinegar, some slices of carrots, onion, and parsley chopped fine, 
thyme, clove of garlic, a little salt and pepper, 2 cloves, and a piece of butter the size of an egg. Place 
the saucepan on a good fire, keeping it covered from the first to make the shells open. Stew continu- 
ously until the shells have opened, when the mussels are done. From each remove one of the shells 
and take out the little crabs which are found in them, but which are not injurious in any way; they are 
found present principally during the months of the year which do not contain the letter “r.” When 
the mussels have thus been opened, stew them a while (stirring or shaking to prevent them from sticking 
to the saucepan) and then turn them into a large, deep dish with a quart of their dressing strained 
clear. The remainder of this dressing makes a very agreeable onion soup. 
A la pouletle . — Take up quickly some of the prepared mussels (steamed and prepared on the half 
shell), as they are called, and make a sauce with a piece of butter, a pinch of flour, a little of their liquor, 
and the yolks of eggs, if these are desired. Turn this upon the mussels and serve. 
A la bechamel . — Pour over the mussels a bechamel sauce in place of the sauce poulette. 
BECHAMEL SAUCE. 
Melt a piece of butter (about 1 ounce) and mix well with it a spoonful of flour and some salt and 
white pepper. Moisten it with a glass of milk, a little at a time with constant stirring; let it boil, being 
continually stirred. At the same time warm over that which you wish to serve with the sauce. To 
make it more elaborate, place in a saucepan some butter, slices of onion, a carrot, a bunch of parsley, 
some mushrooms, and place it on a fire. Moisten with some boiling milk, adding a little at a time with 
constant stirring; add some salt, white pepper, and nutmeg, and stir until it boils. Allow it to cook very 
slowly for three-quarters of an hour, then strain it through a colander. In a saucepan make a light- 
brown butter sauce w 7 ith 3 spoonfuls of flour and turn into it the milk broth; let it boil three minutes. 
Attention should be called to the fact that Audot’s precaution to avoid eating 
mussels between the months of April and September does not apply to all parts of the 
world. On our northern Atlantic coast the months between April and September are 
the very months when the mussels are best for eating purposes, while during the fall and 
early winter they are unfit for use. The explanation of this is that the mussels of France 
breed in the early spring while these on our coast breed in the late summer and fall. 
After spawning the mussels become sickly and great numbers of them die. A more 
general way to state the precaution is: Avoid eating mussels from a given locality dur- 
ing the four months following their spawning. At the end of this period they again 
become fat and healthy. 
