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| Zeeland mussels is a company with a local service area. | |
Farmed in the Oosterschelde, cleaned at Yerseke, and largely sold to Belgium.
The season
From mid July into spring. The first landing is news, and the auction of the first batch makes the papers.
The beds
Seed is dredged and sown on plots in the Oosterschelde and the Wadden Sea. They are harvested after eighteen months to two years.
Cleaning
Before sale the mussels sit in tanks of clean seawater so they spit out sand. Those pits at Yerseke date from the nineteenth century.
The grades
From small to jumbo, with imperial and gold mark the best known sortings. Larger grades are not necessarily tastier, only meatier.
To Belgium
Most of the Zeeland harvest crosses the border. Anyone eating mussels in Brussels is almost certainly eating Zeeland ones.
Where to look
Yerseke for the source, and restaurants across Zeeland from July.
Where to try it
Places in our directory that serve this
Restaurant in Yerseke 7 · Restaurant in Zierikzee 27 · Restaurant in Middelburg 64 · Restaurant in Goes 49 · Restaurant in Bergen op Zoom 67