Éclade de moules charentaise

Name: Éclade de moules charentaise
Total time: 45 min
Yield: Serves 6
Cuisine: Poitou-Charentes
Ingredients: 4 kg (9 lb) mussels; 3 handfuls dry pine needles; 100 g (3½ oz) salted butter; 1 country-style baguette; 1 tsp freshly ground pepper

Charentes éclade, pine-needle smoked mussels

⏱ 45 minServes 6Medium760 kcal

A recipe from Le Chaudron — the cooking of France’s regions.

01 — Ingredients6 servings

4 kg (8.8 lb)bouchot mussels
3 handfulsdry pine needles
100 g (3½ oz)salted butter
1country-style baguette
1 tspfreshly ground pepper

4 kg (8.8 lb) bouchot mussels
3 handfuls dry pine needles
100 g (3½ oz) salted butter
1 country-style baguette
1 tsp freshly ground pepper

Serves 6. In the app, quantities adjust to the number of guests on their own — and the ingredients go straight to your shopping list.

02 — Equipment

1 large wooden board, 60 cm (24 in)4 long nails

1 damp cloth

1 pastry brush

03 — Method

Scrape and wash the mussels in cold water, then hammer four long nails into the large wooden board to prop up the first mussels.
Stand the mussels upright and tightly packed on the board, hinge up so they don't fill with ash, in a large, compact rosette.
Cover completely with a thick layer of dry pine needles so no mussel sticks out.
Light the pine needles and let burn 5 to 7 min, adding a handful if needed, until all the mussels have opened and cooked.
Clear the cooled ashes with a damp cloth and a gentle breath, then check that the mussels are open.
Serve right away on the board with salted butter, freshly ground pepper and slices of country bread to dip in the juices.