Did You Know?
Need-to-know mussel facts from around the world.
Did you know:
- That in 2005 a professor in Florida announced findings that confirmed mussels are an aphrodisiac. Specifically, they contain D-aspartic acid and NMDA (N-methyl-D-aspartate), which, when eaten, can trigger a release in sex hormones.
- That mussel meat is gender specific - the female mussels are orange-pink while the male’s mussel meat is almost white.
- That mussels can live for up to 50 years, but the cultured ones are harvested at around 24 months.
- That mussels have been cultivated for almost 800 years in Europe, and have been used as a food source for more than 2,000 years.
- That according to the Guinness World Book of Records, Kannha Keo of New Zealand holds the fastest mussel opening time with 100 shells in 2 min and 11 seconds – a feat completed at the Havelock Mussel Festival, Havelock, New Zealand in 2007.
- That an average serving of mussels is only about 90 calories!
- That in Belgium, France and in many pubs throughout London, mussels are eaten with French fries, (or frites) with mayo and beer.
