Original french name: Mouclade
Place of origin: Poitou-Carentes and Limousin, Central France

In Charente the most popular way of eating mussels bred along the coast is in the form of Mouclade. It is a type of appetizer where mussels baked in a creamy sauce made from the mussel cooking liquid, egg yolk and crème fraîche.

I love making this mussels dish especially on Fridays because it is easy to cook and as a good appetizer it goes well with  a glass of light white wine or a beer.

Ingredients (serves 3-4):

1 kg mussels
2 egg yolks
5-6 tablespoon of crème fraîche
1 tablespoon olive oil

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200◦C (390 ◦F). Scrub mussels carefully and wash under running water. Add some water in a casserole. Cover pot with a lid and cook for about 5-7 minutes until they open. Discard unopened mussels.

Remove the upper shell and arrange the lower shells containing the mussel flesh in a flameproof dish.

To make a sauce, mix well egg yolks, crème fraîche and 2-3 tablespoon of cooking liquid.

Sprinkle each shell with the crème fraîche sauce and drizzle with a little olive oil. Bake in a preheated oven at 200◦C (390 ◦F) for 3-5 minutes. Serve hot.