Foraging native mussels

[jdmidwest]

52 minutes ago, MOPanfisher said:

Tried to eat a mussel once, quite possibly the toughest thing I ever chewed on, but at least the flavor wasn't good. 

Don't chew them, suck them down like a big snot wad.  It helps to marinate yourself in alcohol before you eat them, makes them more easy on the palate.

[Al Agnew]

Cool little film about mussels from MDC:  

 

[Johnsfolly]

12 hours ago, Quillback said:

Which reminds me - Cioppino is an excellent shellfish and seafood dish.  I made it once myself and it came out pretty good, so that says something about it being easy to make if I can do it.  Lots of recipes out there if you do a search on it.

That is a delicious way to make a seafood stew. My favorite ocean mussel dish is mussels cooked with a little shallot, bacon, and white wine and butter. 

[MOPanfisher]

14 hours ago, jdmidwest said:

Don't chew them, suck them down like a big snot wad.  It helps to marinate yourself in alcohol before you eat them, makes them more easy on the palate.

If I remember correctly dad and I were wade fishing a creek and picked up a couple of big mussels.  We also had a nice stringer of green sunfish, so while the fish were getting fried we popped open the mussels, rolled them in corn meal and they got fried too.  Afterward we tossed them out to the dogs who chewed on them for a while and then just walked away.  But the green sunfish (always called them black perch) were delicious! 

[MOPanfisher]

Billethead, I am trying to remember the Mussel guy from MSUs name, Barnhart is what comes to mind, but not sure.

[BilletHead]

5 minutes ago, MOPanfisher said:

Billethead, I am trying to remember the Mussel guy from MSUs name, Barnhart is what comes to mind, but not sure.

                   Thats it!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have been trying to remember and it was driving me crazier than I am already.   You are spot on Glen, thanks.

[tjm]

On 1/26/2022 at 7:29 AM, Johnsfolly said:

In my opinion mussel communities are way too fragile to even try and forage common species. Better off leaving them alone.

This^^, and it may be too late in many areas.

When I was a kid in the '50s I used to find dozens of mussels in these creeks, maybe three kinds, and see piles of shells (10-30) where 'coons had dined but it has been more than thirty years since I've seen either a live mussel or a pile of shells. Only occasionally see one or two broken shells. 

I recall asking adults if they were edible or good to eat, folks that ate anything during the Depression, and the answers varied from one person to another; but my recollection is that different varieties taste different and that over all mammals made better food. I was never encouraged to eat them. 

[Flysmallie]

8 minutes ago, tjm said:

When I was a kid in the '50s I used to find dozens of mussels in these creeks, maybe three kinds, and see piles of shells (10-30) where 'coons had dined but it has been more than thirty years since I've seen either a live mussel or a pile of shells. Only occasionally see one or two broken shells. 

 

 

I saw a pile of shells a few weeks ago. I was very surprised. I hadn't seen a pile like that since I was a kid. 

[BilletHead]

39 minutes ago, tjm said:

This^^, and it may be too late in many areas.

When I was a kid in the '50s I used to find dozens of mussels in these creeks, maybe three kinds, and see piles of shells (10-30) where 'coons had dined but it has been more than thirty years since I've seen either a live mussel or a pile of shells. Only occasionally see one or two broken shells. 

I recall asking adults if they were edible or good to eat, folks that ate anything during the Depression, and the answers varied from one person to another; but my recollection is that different varieties taste different and that over all mammals made better food. I was never encouraged to eat them. 

         I can show you a river full of them.  How hard do you look?  Coons cannot get into a healthy Mussell. Maybe crunch a tiny one, Otters can, and they will go to one place on the bank to feast. A racoon is NOT going to pile them in one spot. 

[tjm]

46 minutes ago, BilletHead said:

         I can show you a river full of them.  How hard do you look?  Coons cannot get into a healthy Mussell. Maybe crunch a tiny one, Otters can, and they will go to one place on the bank to feast. A racoon is NOT going to pile them in one spot. 

In the Elk or Illinois drainage? Not 'coons? Grandpa  must have been mistaken, so what did make those piles? I don't even know if 'coons eat the things. AFAIK we didn't have otters in the '50s.

Honestly I don't look hard or seine the gravel or anything, but you  know what? I didn't do that as a ten year old either. So,  maybe what i played with wasn't mussels at all?