La Brújula N27 Mussels in Escabeche

TAST­ING NOTES FROM THE CURATOR

Farmed near­ly year-round from the pris­tine waters of Gali­cian rias (estu­ar­ies), these large, sweet mus­sels present the best fla­vors of a region well-known for its con­served seafood. They get spe­cial treat­ment from La Brújula’s kitchens, first care­ful­ly fried in neu­tral oil and then mar­i­nat­ed in a blend of olive oil, vine­gar, salt, and pimen­ton (Span­ish papri­ka). The result­ing con­serve is soft, chewy, and full of tangi­ness with a slight kick.

PREPA­RA­TION OR PAIRINGS

Tinned shell­fish are pantry fare full of promise. From speedy lunch­es to roman­tic din­ners, at room tem­per­a­ture or after a lit­tle warm­ing, they are full of pos­si­bil­i­ties. Over a lit­tle rice, with crusty bread or even straight from the tin, they are fill­ing and fla­vor­ful for a light meal — a taste of Spain with­out leav­ing your kitchen. And if you hap­pen to want a glass of wine to go with it, we def­i­nite­ly sug­gest an Albariño.

A CUL­TURE OF CONSERVAS

Spain has earned a rep­u­ta­tion for being a cen­ter of gourmet seafood con­ser­vas, where tinned fish­meats are sold at high-end delis or eat­en straight from the can at the classi­est tapas bars. Gali­cia is mus­sel ter­ri­to­ry, where 4 deep, sprawl­ing rias sup­ply 60 of Spain’s 145 can­ner­ies. These can­ner­ies all fol­low arti­sanal prac­tices, han­dling small batch­es of their catch by hand every day in what is more of a lifestyle than a pro­fes­sion. Small won­der that Spain is the sec­ond largest pro­duc­er of con­served mus­sels in world, right after Thailand.

Storage Instructions

Store your tin in a cool, dark, and dry pantry. Unopened, it will last up to 2 years. Once opened, con­sume your fish with­in one or two days and keep left­overs with the oil in a sealed con­tain­er in the fridge.