If there’s one ingredient forever associated with our stretch of the North Norfolk coast, it’s glossy, plump mussels. These gorgeous, fresh-as-you-like bivalves are coming into abundant season right now. As a rough rule of thumb is any month with an R is when they’re at their best. Not only are mussels really tasty, they are also a great source of lean protein and full of nutrients due to being rich in minerals and vitamins. Norfolk Blue or Common mussels, particularly those from Brancaster, are big juicy morsels of succulent flesh (the orange ones are female, male ones are more yellow).
Until the 1990’s, most local mussels left the county and headed off to industrial cities like Nottingham or Leicester. “They were a working man’s pleasure,” says local Brancaster Fisherman Cyril Southerland, and as the day ended, factory workers grabbed bags from market stalls to take home for dinner. But then, chefs along the Norfolk coast became interested in making the most of what they could get locally. And word spread that this quiet English county had some amazing food on the menu.
These bed-grown Norfolk mussels are distinct from industrially produced rope-grown mussels that spend their life constantly suspended deep in the water column. Because they live most of their lives right where the land meets the sea, Norfolk mussels drink up high tide and dry out in low. They adapt to the ebb and flow and have a hearty character that gives them a slightly longer shelf life once harvested. Brancaster harbour’s creeks and channels offer the ideal conditions needed for growing oysters and mussels. The mussels are laid down in the channels as seeds and over a period of 2 years they are nurtured until they are ready for harvesting.
Then when it’s time for harvesting, “it’s all done in the same way it was in my great grandfather’s time,” says Cyril. While rope-grown mussels are mechanically harvested Norfolk mussels are raked from the shallow waters in the same way as centuries ago.
There is a common misconception about mussels in that if they don’t open whilst cooking they should be discarded as unsafe. This myth is believed to have been first published by the food writer Jane Grigson in her 1973 ‘Fish Book’ which advises readers to ‘throw away any mussels that refuse to open’ . Nick Ruello got involved in this mussel myth because he was commissioned to write a report for Seafood Services Australia, on the rather specific topic of adding value to mussels. And of course, along the way, he cooked and ate over 30 batches of mussels, of various sizes, ranging from 21 to 111 mussels.
Now the mussel has a shell with two halves. Thanks to some elastic ligaments, these two halves have a natural tendency to be open. To keep them closed, the mussel has muscles. It uses its specific adductor muscles. When we cook them, the heat can have a few effects on the adductor muscles that keep the two halves of their shells stuck together. Sometimes, the heat can denature the proteins in the adductor muscles so that they simply disintegrate, or sometimes, it can make one or both ends of the adductor muscles come unstuck from the shell. Nick Ruello found that 1.9 per cent of mussels opened early. These mussels opened before they had been cooked long enough to kill any potential pathogens in them.
If you removed them from the stove once they opened and ate these mussels, you would be at risk of food poisoning. But you would get a strong hint from the texture of the meat — it would be unappetizing, jelly-like, un-coagulated, and stuck to the perimeter of the shell. At the other extreme, he found that some 11.5 per cent of mussels remained closed after a so-called “normal” cooking time. When he forced them open with a knife, every single one was both adequately cooked and safe to eat. So, according to Nick Ruello, even if the adductor muscles refuse to bow to the heat, the meat is still safe to eat.
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To get them at their freshest take a drive on the A149 coast road in north Norfolk – you’ll find fishermen selling them directly at Brancaster and there are a number of good outlets too, such as The Fish Shed at Brancaster Staithe, Gurneys Fish Shop near Anna’s at Thornham and Westons Fish Shop at Blakeney. Otherwise pop into pretty much any good pub in north Norfolk and they’ll be on the menu when in season.
* Please contact us directly regarding dependant adults.
Payment Policy
We take a refundable deposit upon booking and the balance is automatically debited once the free cancellation period has expired.
Cancellation
If you book directly with us, using our website or by calling us the cancellation policy is as follows
For booking made directly with us we charge an amount equivalent to the first night room rate as the deposit to secure your booking. Cancellation before 7 days of arrival will incur no charges and your deposit will be fully refunded.
Full balance payments are automatically collected after the free cancellation period expires which is 7 days prior to arrival. Cancellations after 7 days of arrival will incur a full charge for all nights booked. If you wish to move your dates or reduce the length of your stay after the free cancellation period has expired then you will still be charged the full cost of the original reservation. Travel insurance is therefore strongly recommended.
In the event that 3+ rooms are booked and stays for 4 days or more then the free cancellation period will expire within 21 days of arrival and will always incur the loss of the first night deposit. Furthermore full payment of all nights booked will be payable for all cancellations within 14 days of arrival.
Bookings made elsewhere If you have booked via a third party or OTA you should check the Terms and Conditions where you made your booking. Pricing may also include your contribution to part or all of their commission charges up to 15% of the booking value.
Damage Policy
Whilst charges for minor accidental breakages are applied at our discretion, we will charge the full cost of all other breakages, missing items and for the replacement or making good of any damage. This includes lost bookings due to damage or breakages.
Pets
We welcome pre-booking of a calm, quiet, well-behaved pet. Please note that we only have limited pet availability. In the event that you bring a pet which has not been booked then you may not be able to stay at Anna’s House. If this occurs outside of the free cancellation period you will incur charges for all nights that you have booked. Pets are accepted on the understand that they accept the house rules that are detailed below.
No pet ever to be left under any circumstances in rooms alone or allowed onto soft furnishings. In the event that a pet is allowed on soft furnishings or left unattended in your room a £150 additional cleaning charge will be automatically added to your account. Most Norfolk pubs and restaurants are pet friendly.
Children
If you have booked children to stay with you then Jenkins will accommodate up to two children below the age of 10 or one child below the age of 14, Kilpatrick accommodates one child below 14 years*. Should your family group not meet this criteria then your booking may be cancelled at any time and our cancellation policy will apply.
NB
Please advise at time of booking if you require hypo-allegenic pillows and duvets. Rooms are not heated from late May until mid September.
Website Privacy Policy
This privacy policy sets out how Anna’s House uses and protects any information that you give us when you use this website.
We are committed to ensuring that your privacy is protected. Should we ask you to provide certain information by which you can be identified when using this website, then you can be assured that it will only be used in accordance with this privacy statement.
Anna’s House may change this policy from time to time by updating this page. You should check this page from time to time to ensure that you are happy with any changes. This policy is effective from January 2019.
What we collect
We may collect the following information:
What we do with the information we gather
We require this information to understand your needs and provide you with a better service, and in particular for the following reasons:
Security
We are committed to ensuring that your information is secure. In order to prevent unauthorised access or disclosure, we have put in place suitable physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect online.
How we use cookies
A cookie is a small file which asks permission to be placed on your computer’s hard drive. Once you agree, the file is added, and the cookie helps analyse web traffic or lets you know when you visit a particular site. Cookies allow web applications to respond to you as an individual. The web application can tailor its operations to your needs, likes and dislikes by gathering and remembering information about your preferences.
We use traffic log cookies to identify which pages are being used. This helps us analyse data about webpage traffic and improve our website in order to tailor it to customer needs. We only use this information for statistical analysis purposes and then the data is removed from the system.
Overall, cookies help us provide you with a better website by enabling us to monitor which pages you find useful and which you do not. A cookie in no way gives us access to your computer or any information about you, other than the data you choose to share with us.
You can choose to accept or decline cookies. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. This may prevent you from taking full advantage of the website.
Links to other websites
Our website may contain links to other websites of interest. However, once you have used these links to leave our site, you should note that we do not have any control over that other website. Therefore, we cannot be responsible for the protection and privacy of any information which you provide whilst visiting such sites and such sites are not governed by this privacy statement. You should exercise caution and look at the privacy statement applicable to the website in question.
Controlling your personal information
You may choose to restrict the collection or use of your personal information in the following ways:
We will not sell, distribute or lease your personal information to third parties unless we have your permission or are required by law to do so. We may use your personal information to send you promotional information about third parties which we think you may find interesting if you tell us that you wish this to happen.
You may request details of personal information which we hold about you under the Data Protection Act 1998. A small fee will be payable. If you would like a copy of the information held on you, please write to Anna’s House, High St, Thornham, Norfolk PE36 6LY.
If you believe that any information we are holding on you is incorrect or incomplete, please write to or email us as soon as possible at the above address. We will promptly correct any information found to be incorrect.