2024-10-28 07:48:00
The mussel is a bivalve with high nutritional density, which contains a large number of nutrients in very few calories. TO proteins with high biological value (those that contain all the essential amino acids) adds their content of Omega-3, polyunsaturated fatty acids essential for cardiovascular health. Furthermore, mussels are molluscs of great value anti-inflammatory power.
As regards micronutrients, the food in question is a source of B vitamins (B12, niacin and folic acid) and minerals such as selenium, zinc and ironthe latter is essential to combat iron deficiency anemia, and to facilitate the transport of oxygen throughout the body.
Thus laying the foundations of its healthy properties, which we talk about below the expert Dory Solla, Director of the Galician factory of Aginamar, to discover a good number of curiosities about this very powerful Galician product.
Difference in the presentation of mussels on the market
To clarify this first doubt, which we have all had sooner or later, the expert from Agguinamar begins by explaining the difference between netted mussels and those packaged in protective atmosphere.
Mussels live in their net.
“Aguinamar was born to offer fish products that can be consumed easily and simply, without spending a lot of time in the kitchen. To do this, it has a wide variety of mussels that are perfect for eating at any time. “From live mussels to cooked mussels.”
We can find on the market both traditional live mussels, in nets or wooden basketsavailable in fishmongers (the mussel has been washed, selected and packaged), as clean living, i.e. purified, washed, selected and debyssaded (removal of the ‘byssus’ or hair). “This live and clean mussel is packaged in a protective atmosphere which keeps it alive and in perfect quality conditions, inside the package, for 8 days“adds Dory.
Then there is the cooked or prepared mussel, which we can find in the cocotte format, which passes all controls and is also sold already cooked, ready to be heated for two and a half minutes in the microwave before consumption.
1. How long do live, netted or packaged mussels last?
The traditional live mussel is the one found on the market in nets or baskets and which has no expiry date. “We just have to be careful that they are alive when we consume them, that they are not broken and that shut your valves if we touch you“.
The mussels must be alive when cooked.
As for packaged clean live mussels, “we at Agguinamar give it a shelf life of 8 days. For refrigerated (cooked) processed mussels, we can have it 28 to 45 daysand frozen for 12-18 months.”
2. Do shell adhesions affect the safety of mussels?
Las limestone encrustations which adhere to the shell of the mollusk (called ‘risco’ and ‘arneiron’) and which we can find on the market are absolutely ‘harmless’ and “do not alter the flavour, quality and consistency of the mussel found inside the shell at all “.
Mussel adhesions do not affect its safety or flavor in any way.
For his part, the ‘byso’, the hair that can be seen From inside the mussel come natural filamentary fibers secreted by the molluscs to adhere to the rocks in the tidal zone. It is something natural, which can be eliminated when we go to eat them.
3. What is the best way to cook live mussels?
The advice of the expert consulted, Dory Solla, is to “cook the mussels in the pot until the boiling point. We will know that the mussels are ready when the shell opens. As an addition, we could add a touch of bay leaves and combine it with the albariño of the Rias Baixas”.
4. Can I freeze mussels?
As for the question we often ask ourselves, no, live mussels cannot and should not be frozen. This possibility only exists if they are already cooked, and it is advisable that they bring some of the cooking liquid with them. We can also freeze it if we have prepared it with a sauce, and bring it to consumption before three months have passed.
5. How long can cleaned and packaged live mussels last?
Live mussels cleaned and packaged in a protective atmosphere can be cooked and consumed taking into account the expiry dates shown on the packaging itself and provided that indicated storage conditions in it.
6. Keys to knowing that the mussel is alive and fresh
Extra quality cooked mussels from Aginamar.
It is important to cook and consume a mussel as fresh as possible. For this reason it is essential that they smell of the sea and that the shell is closed or close when you give it a little tap, as it indicates that it is still alive.
We have to throw away mussels that have broken shells. While that doesn’t always mean they will be bad, it’s a risk we shouldn’t take.
7. Thus you will distinguish males from females
Male and female mussels are distinguished by color.
As the expert explains to us, “the female mussel is orange in colourmore vivid and intense, while males appear whitish or cream in color. Finding white meat does not mean that it is of inferior quality, but simply that it is the male mussel.
8. Duration of growing mussels, until we eat them
Mussel cultivation is a fairly long process, which begins in December by collecting the seed on the rocks. Subsequently this seed is tied in the tray. In 4 to 6 months this string opens and separates so the mussel can lay its eggs and grow. From the moment the mussel is caught on the rock until it is harvested, it can happen from 18 to 24 months.
Strings full of mussels in the mussel trays of Cambados, Galicia, for Aginamar.
Mussel farming in Galicia takes place in several stages. The seed (mexilla) is obtained in thousands native rafts (floating nurseries consisting of a frame of eucalyptus wood) that populate the Galician Rías. The cheeks launch the gametes into the sea where fertilization occurs, giving rise to the larvae which will subsequently settle on the rocks. From December to April, bateeiros collect seeds (1-2 centimeters) from these rocks and carry them in trays so that they grow there, around the ropes.
Rafts are eucalyptus wood structures that float on the sea, in this case in Cambados (Galicia).
After 4 or 6 months in the sea, the mussel reaches 5 centimeters, i.e necessary split due to the large weight. After a year the mussel reaches commercial size.
9. When is the best time to find the meatiest mussels?
“Although we offer mussels of the best quality and with the greatest possible quantity of flesh (meat) throughout the year, it should be noted that between the months July to February are the best moments to consume the mussels at the perfect point”.
10. Why are Galician mussels the best?
The water of the Galician estuaries is, and it can never be said better, the best fertile ground for the multiplication of mussels. “Almost a miracle if it weren’t for the fact that the holy water arrives here rich in nutrients from the oceanmarked by the Gulf Stream, which fills the mouths of Galician rivers with phytoplankton”, explains Dory.
Galician mussels in Aginamar brava sauce.
As if they were stone balconies open to the Atlantic, the play of tides and temperatures between salt waters and fresh waters is transformed the perfect ecosystem so much so that the mussel, like many other crustaceans, feels – never better said – like a fish in water.
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