Harissa mussels with crushed olives

1st March

Mar 01, 2023

∙ Paid

March often feels like a funny sort of “in between” month. Daffodils are out, dainty snowdrops line nearby parks and woods are blanketed with wild garlic. On the basis of these small markers, we’d like to think that the heaviness of winter is behind us. We’d like to think that we can leave the house without feeling weighed down by coats, hats, scarfs, the whole layering shebang that feels more tedious than ever. We’d like to think that we’ll wake up with daylight streaming through the windows. We’d like to think that spring is here. But we’re not *quite* there yet.

Similarly, in the kitchen appetites long for spring and the abundance it will, eventually, bring. But we’re not there yet. Seasonal fruit and veg is ummm ~ limited ~ shall we say and will remain that way for a few more weeks.

In an attempt to be a little less Negative Nancy and a little more Positive Pooh, I will say that what March lacks in warmth and abundance of fruit and veg, it makes up for in other ways. If you prescribe to the “eat shellfish when there’s an ‘r’ in the month” old wives’ tale, you’ll know that this is the time to be cooking with the likes of mussels and clams.

To me, the whole process of cooking and eating these feels special, from the clattering of the shells against the side of the pot, to the way they magically burst open within a matter of minutes, to prizing the meat from the shells, to ensuring every last bit of briny sauce is slurped and mopped up from the bowls with crusty bread.

This process is also gloriously messy so don’t make the mistake of wearing a white t-shirt, as I nearly always (unintentionally) do. Get your napkins out (kitchen paper very much condoned here) and tuck them in to create that particularly fetching bib look.