As a kid, I spent every summer on the Dalmatian coast in Croatia. Besides beautiful water, the smell of pine trees and occasionally sea urchins’ spikes in my feet, having a dinner at a typical ‘konoba‘ was a must-do experience. And I would always eat mussels alla buzara. I am not even such a fan of mussels themselves, but I love dipping a fresh bread into the white wine sauce.

For years, I’ve been dreaming of cooking it myself. I haven’t moved much further from the dream-phase though, not even to check the recipe to see whether it is really as complicated as I always thought it would be (and before you ask how is this possible, I suggest you read this post). So, you can imagine how surprised I was when I finally googled the recipe and realised that all you need is 6 simple ingredients and about a half an hour time. “I think I can do this…”
As per recommendation of a Newport, Rhode Island, local, I visited Anthony’s Seafood market and bought a bag of black mussels. Not sure if they were ‘dagnje’ as I don’t know the English names for mussels, but they looked very similar. That’ll do. I bought fresh parsley and garlic too, and a guy in a local liquor store helped me find the cheapest white wine suitable for cooking mussels (we were actually googling in the store whether mussels should be cooked in sav blanc, chardonnay or pinot gris). I forgot to buy breadcrumbs.
I followed the 3-step recipe (clean the mussels under the running cold water, boil them for a bit, and then put all the ingredients in a pan and cook for about 10 minutes), and served the delicious meal! I am still walking around like a peacock.

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