Local mussels are simply the best! They’re smaller than their New Zealand counterparts, but after all, dynamite comes in small packages! I love their pitch-black shells filled with plump, bright orange (or sometimes creamy coloured) flesh, cooked faultlessly to give that silk-like texture.

Perfect proof of this is a dish I’ve had (more than once) made by chef and restaurateur George Jardine at Jordan in Stellenbosch (no. 3 in our list of Top 10 restaurants for 2012). He prepares them en papillote style, steamed in greaseproof paper, which you open at the table to release a magical aroma of coconut, ginger, lemongrass and mussels. Needless to say, they are rather moreish.

I haven't been for a couple of years now, but I do remember how good the moules en frites used to be at the annual Maynard Carnival. We used to queue at the Belgian tent to receive paper plates piled high with mussels and chips with a great mayo that they used to bring especially for the show.

The Belgians really know their mussels. The ones at Den Anker at the Waterfront are sourced from Langebaan, cooked in beer, and are best enjoyed with one of their many brews on offer.

But musssels can be more refined, too. I was once eating at a local brasserie when a Parisian family at the next table ordered a pile of moules. Their six-year-old daughter was diligently eating the mussels by using one half of the shell to scoop the meat out of the other. Very stylish.

But my favourite way to eat them is at home. You’ll need to grab a bag from your local fishmonger; if you’re in the Cape, a trip to Wild Peacock Food Emporium is well worth it, but check if they have stock first. They are the guys who have just walked away with the Eat Out Dstv Food Network Produce Award for Best Retail Outlet in the South. If in Joburg, try La Marina, which stocks both the local shells and those from other waters.

Speaking of Johannesburg: next week I’ll be on my long-anticipated trip to the city of gold to try some new places on my list… and hopefully a mussel or two.

Abigail

Photograph: TheFoodPlace.co.uk