Photo by Kris Vlegels and Chantal Arnts
I’m rather haring about all over the place at the moment, so this week’s CookbookCorner is more of a quick heads-up than a long, considered review. But even if I could find only two minutes to sit down with my laptop, I wanted to tell you about the Dutch chef Sergio Herman’s beautiful big book of mussels. It’s at first glance a coffee table book (and an exquisite one, at that) but closer inspection reveals it to be a love letter to the Zeeland coast and the mussels it’s famous for as well as, very movingly, a deeply-felt debt of gratitude to his parents, at whose knee and in whose restaurant he learnt to love the mussels he writes about so passionately.
It is, in parts, very much a chef’s book, but there is much for the home cook in it, too. I’m not one for prinked plates and foams, but have stuck greedy post-it notes on his recipes for Mussel Mayonnaise; Thai Noodle Salad with Mussels, Chilli and Cashews; Mussels, Singapore-Style; Mussels Carbonara; Indian Butter Mussels; and Mussels au Poivre. And I dream of his Dandan Noodles with Mussels and Spring Onions! But the recipe I’m going for first is the one I’m bringing you today: these juicy morsels of Pan-Fried Mussels with Citrus and Chilli.
Copyright text and recipes © 2022 by Sergio Herman.
Copyright photography © 2022 by Kris Vlegels and Chantal Arnts / Tra Publishing.
Available now from Amazon.
