Terry Durack:
Apparently Jane Grigson said it first, in her 1973 book Jane Grigson's Fish Cookery. After cooking, "throw away any mussels that refuse to open". And that was that – her command has been slavishly followed ever since by food writers and home cooks around the world. But the late Mrs Grigson may have been wrong. Writing in Australia's Good Weekend magazine, scientist and commentator, Dr Karl S Kruszelnicki claims Australians waste 370 tonnes of perfectly good seafood every year by following her advice. Kruszelnicki cites Australian fisheries biologist, Nick Ruello, who, while working on a report for Seafood Services Australia, cooked and ate more than thirty batches of mussels. During these tests he found that 11.5 per cent of the mussels refused to open during normal cooking time. After forcing them open with a knife, he found that each and every one of them was adequately cooked and perfectly safe to eat. One piece of advice that still holds water, however, is to discard any open mussels that don't close up tightly again when tapped or rapped together before cooking. If they don't respond by closing, they are dead, and if they're dead, they're not fresh enough to eat and should be ditched. When cooked, however, the heat affects the adductor muscles that keep the two halves of the shell stuck together, denaturing their proteins so they virtually disintegrate, or come unstuck from the shell. Even if the adductor muscles refuse to bow to the heat, says Dr Karl, the meat is still safe to eat. I'm cooking mussels tonight, with cider, leeks and bacon. If this turns out to be my last blog, then please revert to Mrs Grigson's advice.

Merle:
Kui tuleb taas kustutamatu isu, siis vallutab ta ise köögi ja nokitseb seal karpe puhastada ja valmistada. Oleme mitmeid siinseid retsepte proovinud ja kõige lemmikumad on seni rannakarbid sinihallitusjuustuga, imemaitsev leem!