Grilled Mussels Eclade

France

Preparation info
  • Serves

    4

    • Difficulty

      Easy

Appears in

By Steven Raichlen

Published 1998

  • About

One of the world’s most distinctive styles of barbecuing, éclade consists of cooking mussels using a blazing pile of dry pine needles. (The name may come from the French verb éclore, to open.) This not only sounds like the way our prehistoric ancestors cooked shellfish, it probably is the way. To this day, éclade remains popular picnic fare in the Cognac region of France.

Unless you live in the country, your access to dry pine needles may be limited. Fort