I brought a bottle (of very cheap) fino sherry with me home from Mallorca, for cooking and I knew exactly what I wanted to use it for; mussels. I adore moules marinière but thought it would work well with more pungent sherry instead of wine too and for some reason I felt that saffron would work well together with the sherry.

Turns out I was right, and I really enjoyed this take on the classic moules marinière. When eating moules as often as I do, one needs variation.

As always when cooking mussels, do rinse them well and de-beard them before cooking. Also discard of any mussels that won’t close when tapping their shell before cooking. But no need to discard mussels that don’t open after cooking, they are still OK to eat.

Mussels with sherry, saffron and cream, serves 2 (small portions)

500 g mussels

a knob of salted butter

1 shallot, finely chopped

75 ml fino sherry

1/2 -1 tsp ground saffron

200 ml double cream

chopped parsley

a small pinch of salt and ground white pepper

To serve:

nice bread to soak up the sauce with

Rinse the mussels a few times in a colander to remove sand. De-beard the mussels and rinse again. Discard of any mussels that won’t close their shell when tapping on it. Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Add the onions and fry on medium heat for a minute or two without browning. Add the sherry and let the alcohol evaporate. Add cream and saffron and stir. Add some ground white pepper and the mussels. Cook under a lid for a few minutes until the mussels have opened. Stir and taste the sauce, add a little salt if needed. Serve immediately with some nice bread.