Recipes from the Mussel Man

Bart van Olphen is a fishmonger and a chef. And that makes him look differently at the product he sells through his company Fish Tales. Namely, with flavor. His latest book proves it too: The Zeeland Mussel Cookbook.

Of course, it’s also quite handy for Bart van Olphen that he can cook so well thanks to his culinary training. Along with his wild blond locks, this makes him the ultimate marketing tool for his own brand.

Instagram
Bart makes grateful use of this with his video channel ‘BartsFishtales’ on Jamie Oliver’s Foodtube channel, his 15-second cooking videos on Instagram and his cookbooks, in which his own products regularly make an appearance.

Bad? Nah. Van Olphen is always clear about it. Moreover, his recipes rise far above those of other fishmongers. This is also true of this new mussel cookbook. With—naturally—more photos by Jamie’s house photographer, the Briton David Loftus.

Bart’s recipes rise above those of other mussel men.

Bart is a sustainable fishmonger and this time makes a case for ‘Zeker Zeeuwse mussels’, which he sells thanks to a fruitful collaboration with the Schot family, who have been harvesting mussels for generations. These Zeelanders are extensively featured in words and images between the mussel recipes.

Panko Mussels
But as mussel lovers, it’s really the recipes that interest us most. Because there are genuinely more ways to prepare mussels than cooking them in the familiar black mussel pot. Delicious too, but Bart counters that with, among other things, panko mussels (yep, fried in panko breadcrumbs), pickled mussels, mussel spring rolls and a mussel version of the seventies shrimp cocktail. And a mussel saffron soup that I was allowed to taste during the launch of this book.

à la Bocuse
And because I was there, you’ll score big at your next dinner party. This already fantastic soup was cooked for us at Café Caron by Alain ‘Binnenste Buiten’ Caron & sons. The Caron family adapted the soup for us to resemble the one father Alain once spooned up at culinary legend Paul Bocuse’s restaurant in Lyon. That makes the soup not only even tastier, but also more legendary.

The Zeeland Mussel Cookbook
Bart van Olphen
Uitgeverij Kosmos
17.50 euros