flex those mussels...

For the amateur forager, mussels are probably one of the easiest of the shellfish to correctly identify on the rocks around our shores. They are also some of the easiest to find, harvest and cook.

It goes without saying that any foraged food should only come from a location that you know to be pollution and chemical free, and if you are in any doubt, don’t.

But, when you have found and harvested your clean, tasty and tightly shut mussels, there are a myriad of ways you can cook them, right there on the beach.

The most obvious is to boil them in the same way you would on your kitchen stove – fine – quick, hassle free and tasty. Boil for a few minutes then discard any that fail to open. Eat with brown bread and butter and a sprinkling of vinegar.

We have been cooking our mussels this way for a while, but we thought we’d try another way…the barbecue.

Fortunately this is a great deal easier than it sounds, and does not involve any splitting or skewering of the tiny morsels – instead, just stick them straight on the hot grill and wait for them to open (again, discard any that don’t). Keep an eye on the coals as the opening mussels will spit a little water out, so try not to cook too many at a time or you will spend forever relighting your barbie.

The result? Lovely, hot and smoky mussels – very different from the normal mussels you would have sampled and a perfect accompaniment to an afternoon on the beach.