Cooked these myself for the first ever time last night. Was pretty nervous given their reputation for food poisoning, but the mussels were perfectly done, and went well with the white and linguine.

Who else loves them? Feel free to share your recipes as well

I adore mussels. Just steamed in white wine, onion and parsley (garlic if you must), stir in cream at the end and serve with crusty bread. Delicious. I've had them with a Thai twist too, coconut milk, coriander, lemongrass and chilli. Very nice.

Mussels (and similar) give you gout.

Fixed that for you....

Love them.
Just follow the simple precaution of discarding any that don't open.
Don't worry about the gloom and doom merchants, just enjoy them
We like to have them just as they are, in a huge bowl with crusty bread to mop up the sauce as well.
Orangebird's sauce is perfect

I use the tins or jars of smoked mussels and use them in pasta putanesca - just stir them in at the end.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaghetti_alla_puttanesca

Love them. With pomme frites and a Belgian beer especially.

They may do as they have a high Purine content as do a lot of other foods. An occasional dish of Mussels won't do you a lot of harm, just use some common sense. I was on a high dose of Allopurinol to control my gout but I got to grips with the Purine content of the food I eat and now am on a minimal dose which I may come off shortly and see how it goes.

Mussels steamed simply over some white wine/garlic/onions/tarragon is wonderful, reduce the stock down and dip your bread as you eat your mussels...a quick ten minute wonderful lunch

What dose of Allopurinol are you on now? I am on 300mg a day.

My gout was triggered by the second can of lager rather than Mussels. I occasionally (every 6 months or so) now get a mild attack but take Colchicine which cures it and then back to the Allopurinol.

I'd really love to have Moules and beer again but having been through a few bouts of gout I'll avoid.

Best prevention is drink a lot of water to flush the residue out - 2 litres a day.

I was on up to 600mg a day but now on 100mg. My UA level is now low so I'm coming off completely at the end of the month and will be monitored for three months and rely on diet. Colchicine is OK but I found Indomethacin to be far far more effective when I had an attack. Hydration is vital for gout sufferers and 2 litres is a bare minimum, I aim at drinking nearer 3l over 24 hours. If your watching your diet (purine foods) and take Allopurinol daily you should not really be getting any attacks now.

Mmmm....Penn Cove mussels. i do them in a white wine, shallot, garlic and parsley broth with a little bit of salt and pepper and a dash of lemon. Reduce the broth down and also a great big chunk of crusty bread.
I'm off to the shops!

Speaking of shellfish, have you tried geoduck yet?

Penn Cove, are they the huge ones? Any chance we might find them in the UK?

Have they got a reputation for food poisoning?

I eat them all the time, along with red wine, cheese etc etc and never had gout.

Famous last words which many (including myself) have uttered ...

As Neo says - keep very hydrated if that is your diet.

No, they're normal sized. I don't know that you would get them in the UK, it's a long way to keep them alive. I just like giving Epicurian a little reminder of the lovely things from her home state.
The great big ones are green lipped mussels. I think they're from NZ. I would always keep a box of them in the freezer for when the urge to have moules came on and the shops were shut. Sure they're not as tasty as fresh (what is?) but sometimes beggars can't be choosers

I have! I absolutely love it. I suppose it helps that people here know how to cook it.

Cooked in cider with plenty of shredded onion and garlic. Remove when cooked and add creme fraiche to the cider. Eat with crispy baguette.

I'll never forget the first time I saw one, when in the second grade someone brought one in for show and tell. And then years later I found myself digging for one in Hood Canal- a messy job, but well worth it.

But now you have me kicking myself for not eating mussels the last time I was on Whidbey Island visiting my aunt.

Great big live geoducks in my local Uajimaya. I'm nervous to buy one as I don't think I could bear watching it boil to death.

Best mussel dish I ever had was at a restaurant in Coupeville (we'd stopped there on a whale watching trip). I think there were no more than 3 ingredients in the broth (not including the mussels) and it was the tastiest thing ever.

Razor clams are also very nice. We used to collect our own when the children were young, made a good day out at the beach.

Well it's not my entire diet no, I do eat other things occasionally.

They are very tasty.

How did you collect them?

You need to get to the beach at low tide, the Razor Clams live very near the the lowest tidal point. Look for 'air holes' in the sand and pour in a little salt which often brings the clam to the surface. You need to be quick and get a good grasp of the clam and pull it out. On a bad day you end up with one clam, of a good day a bucket full. You can dig but we always used salt. I've just realised its about 15 years or more since we did this...where does the time go. We first got the idea when on holiday in France when watching locals getting clams.