Belgium: Most surprising signature dish!

So while I was studying to become a chef in Cape Town, I had the opportunity to meet people from all over the world. The reason for that was due to me staying in a commune with 7 other people, of which only three people including me stayed there for the whole year. The 5 other rooms where always occupied by different people from all over the world almost every three months. One of these people was a girl by the name of Pauline, she was from Belgium and was always interested in what I was learning at school. The one night we where talking about food and how its so different all over the world. Anyways we got on the topic of her countries national dish. To my surprise it was two items i would have never thought to be paired together. On the one hand you had French Fries ( which for those of you who don't know actually originated in Belgium) which is a cheap and easy food to make yourself, and on the other hand you have luxuries Mussels which are not cheap. At first I did not believe her at all, but then as all of us do now days  being the "google it" generation, she got her laptop and google it to proof to me that she was not joking. 
The Belgium term for this dish is: Moules Frites 

So today i'm going to give you a nice and simple recipe for the unique National dish of Belgium! 

Ingredients
Mussels

1. 1 kg of fresh mussels
2. 1 large onion-finely chopped (brunoise) 
3. 2 large cloves of garlic-brunoise
4. 1tsp chopped fresh thyme
5. 1 tbls fresh chopped flat leaf parsley 
6. 1 tbls chopped chervil
7. 50 ml olive oil
8. 150 ml good dry white wine (if you won't drink it don't use it!)
9. 1 tsp Pernod ( it's a french anise-flavoured liqueurs) optional
10. 2 tbls creme fraiche

French Fries 

1. 2 large potatoes peeled and cut into even chips
2. oil to fry
3. salt to taste

Method 

1. Cut the chip 2mm by 2mm, or to what ever size you feel comfortable doing
2. Heat up your deep fat fryer to 160 C, or place a pot on the stove with a thermometer and heat to 160C Sunflower seed oil is fine.
3. Rinse the chips with salted water and then dry off with kitchen paper before placing into the deep fat fryer for 4-5 minutes ( if your chips are larger I would recommend you par-boil them to achieve a soft smooth inside texture and crisp outer texture) 
4. Once the 4-5 minutes are done remove and cool, now turn the heat up to 190C
5. When mussels are place chips back into 190C oil for 1 minute till golden and crisp
6. Remove once ready and sprinkle with salt, serve chips in a side dish along with the mussels

Mussels

1. If you are using fresh mussels (which you should be) you'll need to clean them first before you cook them. Rinse them off in cold water and then proceed to remove the bears. When removing the bears make sure you pull then across the mussel and not to the closest end. You will also need to check if they are still firmly closes and smell of the ocean and not fishy! Any mussel that smell fishy or are mostly open discard them.
2. Now get a big deep pot with a tight fitting lid on the stove over a low to medium heat, place the garlic and onions with the olive oil in the pot and sweat will onions soft and translucent.
3. Once the onions are ready remove from pot and put over high heat and allow the pot to become very hot
4. Once pot is hot, add the onion mix along with the herbs back into the pot, then quickly add the mussels, then white wine and Pernod. (Must be in this order) Immediately place the lid on making sure its tight and secure
5. Allow to steam for 4-5 minutes, shaking the pot once or twice.
6. Remove from heat and check for any closed mussel, and discard them. 
7. Now stir in the creme fraiche  
8. Serve mussel in a deep bowl dish. 

Hope you enjoy and try it out!


PLease can i ask that you leave feed back, and if you decide to try it out to post your picture either on my website or on my Facebook page please.


Thank you

 

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Pualine watching and helping me out making fresh pasta