Moules Marinière

Small, piquant moules de bouchot are a specialty of Dieppe, traditionally the nearest fishing port to Paris, one hundred miles (160 kilometers) distant. As early as the sixteenth century, caravans of packhorses known as the chasse marée (marine express) raced from Dieppe with barrels of live fish, their route cleared by a bellman until they reached Boulevard Poissonnière (Fish Boulevard) in Paris. Moules Marinière is a foundation recipe, an invitation for all sorts of additions, such as crè