I thought almond mussels were cookies, but apparently not only. When we were at the Coop yesterday, we found a type of mussel that we had never seen before and it was called almond mussels. Curious as we are, we bought a net.
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ShareWhat are these mussels?
The mussels seem to be called "Glycymeris glycymeris" in Latin, but our curiosity is still not quite satisfied. Where are these mussels found in their natural state? How are they usually cooked? I've tried googling, but "almond mussels" only brings up results about cakes... Anyone know more?
What did we think of the mussels?
We cooked the mussels in the same way you would cook mussels. Unfortunately, we were not thrilled. We found that the mussels were a bit hard to chew, and that other mussels are tastier. On the other hand, we don't know how best to handle or serve them. Anyone else who has tried them?
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Maggan och Ingemar says:
Mussels are not exactly my favourite. I think I recognise the shells, but I can't give you a name. Even I tried to google the name. We saw lots of different types of mussels in Spain, but as I said nothing I like to eat, I prefer to collect the shells 🙂.
05 May 2013 - 23:20
Ulla Berggren- Widing says:
Nor do I know where they are, let alone have seen them. I know nothing about them................
06 May 2013 - 0:36
Emmy i Australien says:
Looks familiar, I think I've seen similar mussels when I snorkelled off the coast of Australia, but on the other hand, I'm not so sharp with sea creatures, so it could have been a completely different species. Hope they tasted at least! PS: I liked the post about life not being a shrimp sandwich, of course you have to work for (and reprioritise) if you want to get where you want!
06 May 2013 - 2:53
Frankie & Co says:
Someone else has found the mussels but not the information 🙂 .
http://annasskafferi.blogspot.se/2008/02/lrdagsplock.html
but the comment had answers;
"I Googled the mussels and found out that they are called dog cockles in Swedish. The name almond mussels is a direct translation from their French name Amande de mer."
06 May 2013 - 9:57
Bosse och Gerd says:
We agree with you, we bought these mussels by mistake six months ago and we won't do it again. They were chewy in texture and didn't really taste anything at all.
We love mussels in general and cook them ourselves with white wine, cream and yellow onion or in garlic - MUMS !!!
We also agree with you about the Seabream fish. It is our absolute favourite fish and it tastes best when grilled. We've spent a lot of time in Florida over the years and you can find it in just about every restaurant there. That's where we learnt to love this extraordinarily tasty fish.
Bosse and Gerd
06 May 2013 - 12:46
Olle says:
Looks like "vongole" or sand mussels as they are called in Swedish. Cook them in oil and garlic with sliced small tomatoes. Season with a little peperoncino and parsley. Serve with spaghetti.
Google spaghetti alle vongole.
/Olle
06 May 2013 - 16:52
admin says:
Maggan and Ingemar, we like mussels, but not this one...
😉
Emmy in Australia, glad you like that post! We got a lot of positive feedback on it, and it's interesting that many people recognise what we write about!
Frankie & Co, thank you! You are an ace at googling! I did an image search on dog cockle, and it certainly seems to be correct! Then it was possible to read about that mussel on Wikipedia too, so now we are at least a little wiser!
😉
Bosse and Gerd, interesting to hear that you felt the same way! This probably won't be a big seller...
Olle, thanks for the comment! It's not vongole though. These are bigger (Vongole was next to them in the fish counter). But now I have realised that they are called dog cockle in English...
06 May 2013 - 18:53
BP says:
Think your almond clams are "clams" - check here:
http://eyespygourmet.blogspot.se/2013/01/baby-clam-linguine.html
Oops, I saw that you already got a reply!
Cockles are in the north of England too. I liked them - but then I am a mussel freak too;-)
06 May 2013 - 20:45
admin says:
BP, those were quite similar, although they look a bit smaller. These were quite large (like large mussels), though it's a bit hard to tell from the picture. Ok, but then you've tried cockles too, which this seems to be. We may not be "mussel freaks" (smile)... but we like mussels and scallops. I have also tried vongole once, and I liked them!
06 May 2013 - 22:05
Anders says:
Latin: Glycymeris glycymeris
25 May 2016 - 17:49
admin says:
Anders, great, now I got a little wiser! 🙂
28 May 2016 - 7:29
Janne Dahlberg says:
looks like a Thai clam called hoy lai, which means patterned clam.
It is stir-fried with roasted chilli paste, oyster sauce and Thai basil (bai horapa).
Season with fish sauce for saltiness and a touch of sugar to balance the flavours.
An ounce of msg if you want to enhance the flavours
Good luck!
Janne
28 February 2021 - 16:03