Mussels are among my favorite foods, and I have been a fan of New Zealand Green Lip Mussels since the late 90s, when a seafood joint in Missoula, now long defunct, got them regularly from a Canadian supplier. Greenies are about three times larger and three times better than any other mussels of my acquaintance, especially the pathetic little black hobbit mussels one typically gets in the US and Europe. One more reason to like New Zealand, where greenies are plentiful, fresh, and--unlike most other edibles here--cheap. Imagine my delight in the following...
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By the time I got back to the marina, two double-trailers were
off-loading the mussels in huge bags |
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| Thus |
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| Thus |
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| And thus |
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Each truck, I later learned, carried 28-30 tons of mussels, so
each of these bags weighed about a ton |
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I timidly asked whether, if I brought my own bag, could they maybe spare just
a few? |
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And so I scored about a kilo, which was all I thought I could eat in one evening
(our fridge was full) |
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| We set up camp at the Elaine Bay DOC campground |
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And I was a happy camper, New Zealand green lip mussels and a nice soft
Marlborough wine |
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| First of three skillets steaming in butter, garlic, shallots, whitewine ... |
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| Another, larger mussel boat pulls into the marina |
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| Better than manna from heaven |
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As the fifth of the trucks whizzes by, 150 tons of greenies headed for the processing
plant in Christchurch...less a kilo for me |
1 comment:
Wes would have loved that meal!
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