La Mouclade Charantaise

Have you had mouclade or moules au curry?

This is a really easy and delicious French mussel dish.

The mussels are steamed in white wine and smothered in a creamy saffron and mild curry sauce.

Perfect with French fries for moules frites and accompanied with plenty of crusty bread for mopping up the delicious sauce.

Bon appétit!   

Jump to:

• ❤️ Why you will love this dish
• 🥘 Ingredients
• 🍽 Equipment
• 🔪 Instructions
• ⏲️ Cooking Time
• 🥗 Side Dishes
• 🥙 Substitutions
• 🍣 Storage
• 🍱 Prepare in Advance
• 📋 Recipe
• Seafood
• In case you missed the last recipes!
• 💬 Comments

❤️ Why you will love this dish

• Ready in less than 20 minutes.
• Great as a starter or main course.
• Just 401 calories a portion!
• No skill needed.

My family and I used to live about an hour away from La Rochelle and it was always a real treat to go for lunch.

There are a fantastic range of restaurants, many that specialise in seafood, as you walk around the port.

I love seafood, and typical menus will offer:

• moules frites - steamed mussels with chips
• moules marinière - mussels in white wine with garlic
• moules au curry or mouclade - mussels in a light creamy curry sauce

Mouclade just means mussels, but this local dish is very much like a marinière, but with a mild curry flavour. From my experience, curry in rural France is very mild and is usually in the form of a sauce.

Our local French supermarket used to have a custom made boat in front of the fish counter which was filled with mussels, so we used to have them at home on a regular basis.

Please don't be worried about cooking mussels as it is really simple if you follow this rule:

Before cooking - make sure that all mussels are closed when tapped.

After Cooking - makes sure that all mussels have opened.

Any mussels that do not behave need to be discarded. There are plenty of mussel tips in the post.

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🥘 Ingredients

• Mussels - I am lucky enough to be able to get them from the supermarket and they are typically available from October to March.

The printable recipe card with full ingredient quantities and instructions can be found at the bottom of the article.

🍽 Equipment

• large stock pot with lid
• sharp knife
• chopping board
• colander
• large bowl
• large frying pan

💭 Top Tips for mussels

• Store mussels in a bowl with a damp clean towel over the top to allow them to breathe. They will die in a plastic bag. Discard any water that accumulates in the bowl.
• Clean mussels under running water to remove any debris and pull off any stringy beards from the shells.
• Discard any mussels that have cracked or broken shells and any that remain open when they are tapped. If your fridge is particularly cold they may take a few minutes to close.
• When you are steaming the mussels, it is helpful to shake the pot whilst cooking or turn them over with a slotted spoon, to ensure even cooking.
• When eating your mussels, please discard any that haven't opened.

🔪 Instructions

Chop the shallot and parsley and finely mince the garlic.

Prepare the mussels by running them under cold water  and pulling off any beards. Discard any that won't shut when tapped and any with a cracked or damaged shell.

Put the saffron in a small bowl and add a tablespoon of hot water to soften it.

⏲️ Cooking Time

Place mussels and wine in the  stock pot over a medium to high heat. Cover and cook for about 3- 4 minutes until the mussels have opened.

Depending on the size of your pot this may take longer.

Drain the mussels in a colander with a bowl underneath to catch the cooking juices. Return the mussels to the pot and keep warm with the lid on.

Melt the butter in a frying pan. Add the shallot, garlic and curry powder and cook for 2-3 minutes until soft but not coloured.

Add the brandy and cook gently until most of the liquid has evaporated.

Sprinkle over the flour and cook for one minute, while stirring to combine.

Add the saffron liquid and the reserved mussel liquid from the bowl, (less any grit at the bottom of the bowl).

Bring to a simmer for 2-3 minutes and then stir in the crème fraîche over a low heat.

You should be left with a thin sauce.

If you prefer a thicker sauce combine a teaspoon of cornflour with a teaspoon of water and stir through.

Season to taste, add the chopped parsley and pour over the mussels to serve.

🥗 Side Dishes

• crusty bread- essential for mopping up all the juices
• frites - French fries or skinny chips

🥙 Substitutions

• saffron - leave it out or add a teaspoon of turmeric with the flour.
• crème fraîche - use single or double cream.

🍣 Storage

• Refrigerator - cooked mussels are best removed from their shells and eaten within 3 days.
• Freezer - remove the shells, pack in a container and freeze for up to a month.
• To reheat - gently in a frying pan over a medium heat.

🍱 Prepare in Advance

• Chop the vegetables in advance if you prefer, but the mussel cleaning and checking is must be done immediately before cooking.

Let me know what you think in the comments or you can post a picture and tag me on Twitter @chezlereve, Instagram @chezlerevefrancais, or Facebook @chezlerevefrancais

More French seafood dishes

• Bourride de Lotte
• Fried Monkfish with Chorizo
• Mussels in White Wine
• Oysters
• Stuffed Calamari
• Lobster Mayonnaise
• Poor Man's Lobster with Thermidor Sauce
• Scallops with Black Pudding
• French Seafood Stew
• Baked Seafood Parcels
• Cod Mornay with Prawns
• Scallops with Chorizo
• Scallop Gratin

📋 Recipe

Food Safety

• Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat.
• Wash hands after touching raw meat.
• Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods.
• Never leave cooking food unattended.
• Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds.
• Always have good ventilation when using gas.

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In case you missed the last recipes!