22 tons of moules per month. A nati­on in moules fever. Luca Bianchi has the num­bers: 12 tons of moules from Holland, four tons of coz­ze from Italy – and six tons of moules de bouchot from the Baie du Mont-Saint-Michel in Normandy. The mus­sels are in high sea­son right now, even though one could actual­ly enjoy them all year round. „The idea that you should only eat them in months with an R is an old wives‘ tale,“ laughs Luca Bianchi. „Today we have an unbro­ken cold chain. You should only avo­id them during spaw­ning sea­son. From April to June, the mus­sels are lean and less fla­vorful.“ And whe­re does the home cook buy moules? „In the Globus fish depart­ment, or for restau­ra­teurs and gastro­no­my pro­fes­sio­nals, our deli­cious mus­sels can be found here at shop.bianchi.ch.“ Image abo­ve: from left, Raphael Tuor, Beat Amrein, Werner Maus.

„La Spécialité Chez Be.“ Beat Amrein & moules – this is a suc­cess sto­ry: „Since com­ple­ting my app­ren­ti­ce­ship, we have tra­ve­led exten­si­ve­ly throug­hout France for culina­ry expe­ri­en­ces and enjoy­ed bouchots in every pos­si­ble pre­pa­ra­ti­on,“ says „Monsieur Be.“ His favo­ri­te ver­si­on: „I use an ori­gi­nal Breton reci­pe: dry white wine, a hint of Pernod, a touch of gar­lic, vege­ta­bles, and fresh pars­ley. The small, fine bouchot moules unfold their full aroma.“

Here’s how: When purcha­sing, pay atten­ti­on to abso­lu­te fresh­ness. Bring the mus­sels brief­ly to a boil with all ingre­di­ents for only about three minu­tes with the lid clo­sed. Mussels that do not open must be sor­ted out and under no cir­cum­stances eaten. How much should it be for guests at „Chez Be“? The chef: „250 grams for a star­ter. 400 grams for a main cour­se. Accompanied by cris­py gol­den fri­tes, fried in pea­nut oil.“

www.chezbe.ch

Café de Ville: „Poulette“ first! Moules are a bras­se­rie clas­sic, and Nadja Scherrer’s „Café de Ville“ on Lucerne’s Schwanenplatz is a hot­spot for them: „It can easi­ly be 20 kilos of bouchots from Mont-Saint-Michel per day,“ says Raphael Tuor, the new head chef. The expe­ri­en­ced cook has two favo­ri­tes: „Moules pou­let­te. Or moules with fine­ly sli­ced fen­nel, cele­ry, and cipo­lot­ti. Sauté in oli­ve oil, degla­ze with a litt­le white wine and Pastis.“ The che­f’s tip: „Never cook too long. Only until the mus­sels are beau­tiful­ly open.“ Must gar­lic go into the pot? Tuor: „No. I find it bet­ter wit­hout.“ The fri­tes alter­na­ti­ve: „A fresh, cris­py baguette!“

www.cafedeville.ch

At the Belgian’s in „Beaufort,“ beer goes in! Werner Maus is Belgian and has tur­ned the restau­rant „Beaufort“ at the yacht har­bor in Brunnen SZ into a fine foo­die desti­na­ti­on. Belgium is a beer coun­try, so a litt­le beer also goes into the broth. „You don’t need too much of it, but it brings a bit of a fee­ling of home when coo­king.“ Favorite beer? „La Chouffe, very fla­vorful, not too hop­py.“ The chef pre­pa­res his moules from France, Holland, or Denmark in the clas­sic way, but he also has a bold varia­ti­on in his reper­toire: gin­ger, lemon­grass, shiso lea­ves, spring oni­ons, soy, and sake.“ The tip for the fri­tes: „We use Agria pota­toes, blanch them in fat before­hand, and fry them twice. Then they are beau­tiful­ly crispy.“

www.restaurant-beaufort.ch.