Chefs are musseling in on the magic of curries
Real curry comes in as many variations as there are cooks from Southeast Asia. The blended layers of spice, sweet, and sour in a homemade curry powder remain a revelation, nothing to do with the dusty yellow mix on the spice rack. Curried mussels, relatively unknown in the West, but a favorite in the coastal regions of the South China Sea, are another revelation. Two New England restaurants are using the magic of curry to transform Prince Edward Island mussels into a crowd pleaser: a briny treat embraced by a tropical idea.
Dorset, Vt., chef Raymond Chen describes his curried mussel dish -- which he includes as one of ''Ten Little Dishes" in the bar at the Inn at West View Farm -- as a ''classic French idea. It's juicy, you eat it with some bread, it has that flowing quality." Chen once worked for famed New York restaurateur Jean-Georges Vongerichten, who is renowned for his Asian-inspired menus. In Arlington, Paul Turano of Tryst likes groups of diners to share his curried mussels. ''You can dip the curry with bread," he says, and ''pass it around." Turano's sous-chef, Ashirwad Elhence, first thought of offering a dish from his native India as a variation on Tryst's American fare.
And ''variation" is the watchword. Indian-style curries begin with complex blends of toasted and whole spices. They end with a rich, appealing aroma that can beckon hungry diners from across the street. A Thai curry often sports a smooth coconut-milk finish. Typically, Thai curries also employ a paste -- red curry paste is traditionally used with mussels -- which gains its color and subdued fire from dried red chilies.
Chen makes a typical red curry paste, sweetens it with caramelized palm sugar, and finishes it with fish sauce, coconut milk, and lime juice. The mussels at Tryst start with a toasted spice mix, including cardamom, black pepper, cinnamon, and cumin. Turano uses tamarind water as a souring agent and favors fresh coconut milk.
Both chefs have advice for home cooks embarking on the curried-mussel adventure. ''Don't overcook them," says Turano.. ''As soon as the [mussel] shells open, pull them off the heat." Chen notes that substitutions can be made: brown sugar for palm sugar, white wine instead of sake for steaming.
Chen, who has offered the mussels for a year, has had a ''really good response." As he passed through the inn's bar one evening, he heard departing customers advising those coming in to order the dish. You can't get a better recommendation than that. 