Important: Safety Warning
This page gives advice for salvaging or disguising food that has begun to spoil. Spoiled food can carry dangerous bacteria and toxins that no washing, soaking, or seasoning removes; it should be discarded.
In addition, this page states that certain wild plants are safe to eat. Its identifications and edibility claims are more than a century old and in some cases simply wrong, and deadly look-alikes exist for many edible species. Never eat a wild plant on the strength of this text.
This information has been left in for historical purposes but should not be acted upon.
Home › The Principles of Cookery › Mussels
Mussels
Mussels are cheap and full of flavour. They may be used with advantage instead of oysters for fish sauces and stews. Many people are afraid of them, thinking they are poisonous, but they are wholesome enough if well washed, and if the piece of weed, and also a small crab often found inside, are removed before serving. They should be avoided in those months which have not R in their names.