I’m certain there are plenty of small, cute beach shacks on France’s southeastern coast where you can get mussels and fries and drink rosé and pastis with your friends or your lover or alone. But my favorite small, cute beach shack is tucked directly into the seawall (?!) about 20 minutes south of Marseille’s city center, and they toss their mussels in aïoli. Do that here, and add fries.
“Your favorite beer will lend that particular flavor to the dish complimenting sweet mussels and spicy sausage. A pint of chilled ale would be delicious on the side.” - Sybille van Kempen
This recipe was inspired by our local Belgian beer place, which has several different versions of moules frites on the menu: an enamel pot of mussels comes with a cone filled with crispy French fries and a mayonnaise dipping sauce alongside. My favorite is the Malaysian style, which is a riff on laksa, a coconut curry soup with Chinese-Malay elements. At home, mussels take literally minutes to prepare and need only a crispy baguette to sop up all the delicious juices.