Éclade de moules

Check and clean the live mussels. Keep the mussels cold and alive, scrub the shells and remove beards; discard cracked shells and any open mussel that does not close when tapped. Use Colander, stiff brush and cold running water. Work under cold conditions. Allow 15 minutes. Target 4 °C. The mussels retained for cooking have intact shells, smell clean and marine, and any mussel that was open has closed when tapped. Pre-cook sorting removes visibly dead or damaged shellfish. Use only traceable mussels from an authorized monitored commercial source; marine biotoxins are controlled at source because ordinary cooking does not reliably destroy them.

Arrange the mussels tightly. Set an untreated heat-safe hardwood board on bare mineral ground or another legal non-combustible outdoor surface; use four clean steel nails as a centre guide and arrange the mussels hinge-up in a tight spiral so they support one another. Use 60 × 60 cm untreated hardwood board and four clean steel nails. Allow 20 minutes. The board is densely covered by a stable single layer of upright mussels with almost no gaps. A tight arrangement keeps shells from tipping when the pine needles burn down. The site must be outdoors in a legal open area, clear of buildings, dry vegetation, children and overhead cover.

Cover with dry pine needles. Spread all 3 kg dry pine needles evenly over the mussels to form roughly a 10–15 cm layer, keeping long tools, water and an extinguisher beside the cook. Use Long-handled rake or tongs. Allow 10 minutes. No mussel shells are visibly exposed through the even 10–15 cm pine-needle layer. Even fuel depth gives short, intense heating across the whole board. Do not proceed in wind, rain, drought restrictions or any local fire ban; wear nonflammable close-fitting clothing and never cook under a roof or overhang.

Ignite without accelerant. Light the dry pine needles from the upwind edge with a long igniter and allow the flame to travel across the board without adding accelerant or leaning over the fire. Use Long igniter and long-handled tools. Work under open outdoor flame conditions. Allow 7 minutes. The pine needles have burned down to a thin layer of grey-black ash, and most mussel shells have opened. The brief intense fire cooks the mussels while giving the characteristic smoky exterior. Keep water or a suitable extinguisher within reach, maintain a clear escape path and never perform this operation indoors or under cover.

Clear ash, sort and extinguish. Use long tools to sweep the ash away, transfer opened mussels to a clean serving tray, discard every mussel that remains closed, then soak and stir the remaining ash until no heat or glowing material remains. Use Long-handled tools, clean tray and water. Work at off heat. Allow 3 minutes cooling. Every served mussel is open, and the remaining ash is fully wet, cold and free of glowing embers before the site is left. Sorting after cooking removes unopened mussels, while complete extinguishing prevents a delayed outdoor fire. Do not handle hot shells with bare hands; keep the clean serving tray separate from the raw-shellfish area.