This fall marks my fourth year anniversary in New York City. Before I moved here, I vowed to do two
things; become a better hula dancer and an even better cook. I did start taking Polynesian dance classes
with Makalina and then became a “professional” Polynesian dancer to support me
and my then boyfriend, now husband, while he slaved away writing his book. I had gigs such as dancing as Waikiki
Wally’s, a Hawaiian dive in the East Village but my claim to was being on MTV’s Beach
House in the Hamptons. At that point, I think I’ve achieved my goal on the
hula dancing end.
As for being a better cook, New York provided an inspiration that I had
never thought it would become. On the summer before moving to the City, I
bought a cookbook called Mediterraneanwhich
claimed to have over 150 recipes. It had
a lot of great pictures, but most of all it was only five dollars. That book would become my inspiration to
cooking, but also a gateway for me to learn about cultures from around the
world through food and different cooking techniques. Although I had always been interested in
cooking before, the book and moving to New York became a catalyst for me to reach the next
level—a real tried and true foodie.
One of my first
outings was going to Chinatown. I had never seen such an array of storefront
of fresh seafood. It reminded me of the
markets that I used to go to with my cousins when I was growing up in the Philippines. There was so much variety, for the most part
fresh, and very cheap. While flipping
through the Mediterranean cookbook, I was intrigued by a mussels dish and decided
to buy fresh mussels.
Also, during my first few weeks, I was lonely and craved for
the sense of community I had when I lived in Boston. Now that I wanted to cook something new and fabulous, I needed an
audience. I was living in a sublet on
the Upper West Side with two Eastern European women; Agneiska (aka Agnes) from Poland and Maggie from Bulgaria. Agnes had big blue eyes and use to come home
singing “Hey Big Spender!” Maggie became
totally paralyzed when she saw a mouse, which we unfortunately had a family of
them living with us, hence the name “Mouse House.” I had never really known any Eastern
Europeans until I came to live with Agnes and Maggie. So with knowing them, I
got to know their friends whom I called “The Eastern European Contingent”: Vika
from Russia, Teddy and
Svetla from
Bulgaria and
another woman whose name I forgot and what part of Eastern
Europe she was from.
Excited of the prospect of cooking a glorious meal, I
invited The European Contingent for dinner. Also, I was trying very exotic ingredients I had never heard of
before. Fennel? Saffron? Let’s give it a try! Also, I
found these ingredients so easily around the corner claustrophobic grocery shop
called the Westside Market. The day was
Sunday in late September and all of the
of The Eastern European Contingent came. We had a makeshift dining table, and I happily scooped bowls of the
steaming mussels into everyone ‘s bowls with homemade olive bread which was
also a recipe in the book. For the first
time since I arrived in NYC, I felt like I was part of a community, almost at that
point in time, part of a family. We
chatted about our lives, our different cultures, living in the city, men and
most of all food. At that point, I began
to realize that food was so connected into creating and building a community,
almost like a family when parents and siblings live so far away. I think that is one of the reasons of why I love
to cook and have become a better cook
along the way.
Below is the mussels recipe I made that Sunday night with
the European Contingent. It was served
with Olive Bread to soak up all the delicious creamy mussel soup. Yummy!
Mouclade of Mussels
This recipe is similar to Moules Marniere but has the additional flavorings of fennel and mild curry. Traditionally, the mussels are shelled and piled into scallop shells, but nothing beats a bowlful of steaming, hot garlicky mussels, served in their own glistening shells.
4 ½ lb fresh mussels
1 cup of dry white wine
Good pinch of grated nutmeg (I like to use nutmeg and grate
it fresh, but if you can’t find whole nutmeg, then use nutmeg powder)
3 thyme sprigs
2 bay leaves
1 small onion, finely chopped
¼ cup butter
1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves, crushed
½ tsp. curry paste or powder
2 tbsp. plain flour
2/3 cup heavy cream
Ground black pepper
Chopped fresh dill, to garnish
Step 1
Scrub the mussels, discarding any that are damaged or open
ones that do not close when tapped with a knife.
Step 2
Put the wine, nutmeg, thyme, bay leaves and onion in a large
saucepan and bring just to the boil. Tip
the mussels and cover with the lid. Cook
for 4-5 minutes until the mussels have opened.
Secret: I learned this trick from my friend Chefy
Tim. Take each mussel one by one as they
open up and put in a bowl. This prevents
the meat of the mussels from being tough and dried out. Thanks Chefy Tim!
Step 3
Drain the mussels, reserving all the juices. Discard any mussels that remain closed.
Step 4
Melt the butter in a large clean pan and gently fry the
fennel and garlic for about 5 minutes until softened.
Step 5
Stir the curry pasted or powder and flour and cook for 1
minute. Remove from the heat and
gradually blend in the cooking juices from the mussels Return to the heat and
cook, stirring, for 2 minutes.
Step 6
Stir in cream and a little pepper. Add the mussels to the pan and heat through 2
minutes.
Serve hot, garnished with dill.
Wanna Try Something Else?
If you would like to try something that is also delicious,
add a pinch of saffron.
Soak ½ tsp. of
saffron strands in a little boiling water and add to the sauce with the
stock.
Saffron is the most expensive spice in the world and is made
of dried stigmas of the saffron flower. The threads or strands must be picked from each flower by
hand, and more than 75,000 of these flowers are needed to produce just one
pound of Saffron filaments. Its taste is
very aromatic and sweet. Greece, Spain,
Turkey, Iran, India,
and Morocco
are the main producers of saffron.
Clark, Jacqueline and Farrow, Joanna, Mediterranean: A taste of the sun in over 150 recipes. New York: Hermes House, 2001.
Comments