An Unexpected Mussel Feast in the Fjords

It's not that a man is against going overboard. And I don't mean those moments of abandon where you lose a small fortune in a fit of fancy. I'm not talking about swimming either, though it's a healthy pursuit. But as the saying goes, people didn't invent boats just to get wet. No, I'm talking about the kind of going overboard that involves actually casting off the lines and sailing away. More specifically, on yachts with sails and a place to sleep.

Nowadays, when we go to sea, we don't need special permits. To sail the Baltic, the Mediterranean, or the North Sea, we don't even need a passport – an ID card is enough, and that's a very good thing.

But when you sail for longer, you need to eat something from time to time to keep your strength and energy up. And things have improved here as well; when sailing with plans to visit various ports, we don't have to carry all the food for the entire voyage. Wherever we sail, we can usually restock without much trouble.

Sometimes, however, things happen like they did once in the Norwegian fjords. These places are full of breathtaking nature and clean water. They're also not nearly as crowded with sailors as the Mediterranean, especially Croatia or Greece. And if you find yourself there before the season, you can fully bask in the silence and peace. Here, though, you have to consider that not every stop will have a shop, and even if it does, it's not necessarily open late. And that's exactly what happened: after arriving in the afternoon at a place where we were supposed to restock, it turned out the supermarket was already closed. We wanted to sail further to even more remote places where we certainly wouldn't find any shops. Since we had all kinds of sauces, spices, vegetables, fruits, pasta, rice, and plenty of drinks on board, we didn't wait for the shop to open in the morning and sailed on.

The next day in the afternoon, we were in the lap of completely wild nature, marvelling at the beauty of the nearby rocky hills from which numerous waterfalls crashed down with a roar. Clean water and stunning scenery all around that simply takes your breath away. But a man cannot live on views alone. At the end of the bay, we spotted a small, forgotten little jetty and moored our yacht to it. Looking at the poles supporting the structure, I saw a multitude of plump, black clusters. Tonight, there would be a feast.

Nutritional Value

Those plump clusters were mussels. Mussels are exquisite food with numerous nutritional and health properties. They provide more protein than fish or poultry and can be an excellent meat substitute. They are low-fat and low-cholesterol, making them suitable for people limiting cholesterol in their diet. They are, however, rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids, including omega-3, as well as vitamins A, D, and B vitamins, which benefit our appearance by improving the condition of our skin, hair, and nails. Mussels also contain valuable minerals essential for the body's proper functioning. These are primarily: zinc, which accelerates wound healing; fluoride, a building block of healthy bones and teeth; iodine—essential for producing thyroid hormones; magnesium, which strengthens muscles and soothes nerves; selenium, which helps prevent cancers; calcium, the main building block of bones; and iron, which improves memory, concentration, and physical fitness. So overall, mussels boost immunity, protect the cardiovascular system, and improve well-being. And, like all seafood, they are an aphrodisiac. It's no coincidence that Botticelli placed Venus on a mussel shell in his famous painting "The Birth of Venus."

Mussels in Tomato Sauce

After gathering such a cluster of mussels, we immediately discard any that did not close when handled, as they are probably dead and therefore not fresh. From the rest, we remove the beards—the small, fibrous strings that resemble thin green threads. We don't bother cleaning the shells meticulously, as we only need the meat, and to get it out, we need to steam them. We pour a little water into the bottom of a pot—just enough to create steam, not to boil them. During this process, the fresh mussels open. Those that remain closed we throw away, as they are also suspect. We pick the meat from the open ones. Meanwhile, a generous amount of olive oil is heating in a pan over low heat with an equally generous amount of garlic and green parsley, seasoned with salt, pepper, and a small but very hot piri-piri pepper. When the garlic starts to turn lightly golden, we toss our mussels into another pan with heated butter to give them a slight golden colour as well. When that's done, we combine the contents of both pans into a pot, adding tomato sauce and fresh chopped tomatoes. Once everything has melded together, the dish is ready. This kind of rich broth can be served in deep bowls with a few leaves of fresh basil and bread.

The feast in the Norwegian fjords was truly exquisite, and a question stuck in my head: do we really want to bring our planet to a state where we can no longer find food in its seas?

The article was published in issue 3-4/2023 (03) of the journal ŻEGLARSTWO