A shout out for mussels and clams

I am lucky to be fairly close to a good fish stall on Kingston Market. He usually has a fair selection of fishy and gamey goodness to choose from.

Top of the popularity stakes for me recently has been his shellfish. A kilo of mussels or a half kilo of clams have been a fiver this winter, apart from during the winter storms I have been able to find them most weekends.

If you've never prepared them before, it can be a bit daunting. Tales of salmonella, botulism and all sorts of nasty thing go around. In fact if you follow the rules, it's probably less risky than eating chicken.

So what are the rules:

• Get them from a fishmonger, they will have been well flushed with clean water. They are filter feeders and if they are in water with bad things in it they will tend to concentrate them because that's their food. Mussels in particular are shallow water beasts and the polution mainly affects the shallows. Clams tend to live in deeper, cooler water.
• Make sure they are alive before you start to cook them. This means they must be closed. Any that won't close up if you give them a tap with a knife handle should be discarded. It means they are dead and could be starting to decompose.
• Remove as much of the debris from the shells as you can by scraping. There is no telling what is lurking in the wormcasts and barnacles.
• For mussels remove the beard. This is its attachment to the rocks or ropes that they grow on.
• Throw away any with broken shells. Again, they may well be dead or dying.

Wow, so how many are left out of a dozen when you've thinned them out. Well, as I say, I have a good fishmonger and even then I check them out before I buy them looking for dryness and open shells. On average I throw away up to 10 out of a kilo of mussels. When it gets over 5 I have a moan. Clams seem to respond better to being out of water, sealing themselves and mostly they are all alive.

OK so I've got a pile of nice healthy live mussels, washed and scraped. How are they cooked. Basically they are steamed. The base that you use to make the sauce is up to you but here are a few of my favourites:

• White wine or cider, onions, garlic, cream is optional but don't put it in until after the mussels have cooked
• Tomato (passata), garlic and chilli (that's what is in the picture at the top)
• Butter and garlic simples

The sauce is prepared first and when it is nicely boiling the mussels tipped in a covered. Don't overdo the liquid, the mussels will make a bit. It takes about 10 minutes for them to open and cook. Beware overcooking. Have a look at then the flesh should have firmed up and lost any sliminess. Thats it. Pile them on pasta or eat with some bread.

I treat clams a little more gently. Just butter and garlic and olive oil in a big frying pan. When the garlic is softened chuck in the clams and toss them for a couple of minutes until they have opened. The very best thing to have them with is spaghetti and lots of black pepper.

By far the best way to eat shellfish in the shell is to get your hands in there and pick them up. If you want to be a bit french you can use and empty pair of shells to pick them up and pick the flesh out.

Enloy!