Mussels

Mydia are farmed in serious quantity in the Thermaic Gulf around Thessaloniki and along the Chalkidiki coast, and northern Greek cooking uses them far more heavily than the south of the country does. They are also permitted on the strictest Orthodox fasting days, which has kept them on the Lenten table for centuries alongside squid, cuttlefish and octopus.

Midopilafo, mussels cooked into a rice pilaf with their own liquor, is Thessaloniki's dish. Mydia saganaki, mussels in tomato with ouzo and feta, and mydia tiganita, floured and fried, are the other two standards. In all of them the salty liquid the mussels release as they open is the seasoning of the dish, and pouring it away wastes most of the flavour.

Scrub them, pull off the beards, and throw away any that stay open after a sharp tap on the counter, since those are already dead. After cooking, throw away any that have stayed shut. Mussels take three or four minutes to open and keep shrinking after that, so the pan comes off the heat as soon as the last shells have parted.