Muscle Sauce (Mussel Sauce) is a traditional British recipe, based on Charles Elmé Francatelli's recipe of 1861, for a classic sauce of mussels in an Allemande sauce base with anchovy essence and lemon juice. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: Mussel Sauce (Muscle Sauce).
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This is a classic recipe for a Victorian version of Muscle (Mussel) Sauce that's derived from the chef, Charles Elmé Francatelli' 1861 volume, The Cook's Guide and Housekeeper's & Butler's Assistant. Below you will find both the recipe in its original form and a modern redaction.
Original Recipe
No. 42.—MUSCLE SAUCE.
Put a quart of washed muscles into a stewpan with a gill of water and a teaspoonful of salt; over all spread a wet cloth or napkin, and having placed the lid on, set the muscles upon a brisk fire to scald; this will be effected in a few minutes, and may be ascertained by the separation of the shells—showing the plump white muscles; these should be instantly taken off the fire, their liquor strained into a basin, and the muscles removed from their shells upon a plate. Next, put some allemande, No. 17, into a stewpan; add a little anchovy, lemon juice, cayenne, and the liquor boiled down to the value of a tablespoonful; throw in the muscles, stir gently together, and serve hot.
Note.—When inconvenient to prepare allemande, melted butter may be substituted; in this case, three yolks of eggs, a little cream, and nutmeg, should be added.
Modern Redaction
Ingredients:
1l washed, scrubbed and de-bearded mussels
140ml water
1 tsp salt
150ml Allemande sauce
1 tsp anchovy essence
1 tbsp lemon juice
cayenne pepper, to taste
Method:
Thoroughly wash the mussels then add to a pan with the water and salt. Bring to a boil, cover with a cloth and a lid and cook for about 3 minutes, shaking vigourously from time to time, or until the shells have opened. Drain the liquid from the pan and set aside.
Put the mussels on the plate, discarding any unopened ones then remove the meat from the shells and set aside. Place the strained liquor from the pan in a saucepan and reduce down to 1 tbsp then set aside.
Prepare the Allemande sauce according to the Allemande sauce recipe. Stir in the anchovy essence, lemon juice, cayenne pepper and the reduced mussel liquor. Now stir in the mussels, allow to heat through and serve hot.
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