Penn Cove Mussels: Treasures In The Shell

A central gathering spot during the annual Penn Cove Mussel Festival is the mussel, beer and music tent in Coupeville. © 2008 Russell Sparkman

"Munch Mussels."

With those two words, Ian Jeffords, co-owner of Penn Cove Mussels, launches about two dozen men and boys into an eating frenzy, pulling apart the mussels in a race to see who can finish their bowl first. Many dump their mussels, broth and all onto the paper that was supposed to be a temporary tablecloth.

This culinary drag race is the signature event ending each day of the two-day Penn Cove Mussel Festival held on the first weekend in March in Coupeville.

Why a festival for a lowly shellfish?

A popular spot for sampling mussels during the Penn Cove Mussel Festival is in front of the Bayleaf gourmet market, where David Day serves guests a special preparation of mussels steamd in white wine and one or two secret ingredients. © 2008 Russell Sparkman

Why during this festival do people go restaurant hopping and sampling each chef's special mussel recipe? Why do a half-dozen cooks churn out batches of bi-valves for hundreds of happy mussel fans partying in a nearby tent? Why have mussels from Penn Cove become a regional favorite and a menu feature in restaurants as far away as New York?

The answer lays only steps from the celebration, in the waters of Penn Cove where the mussels grow naturally; attaching themselves to rocks on the beach, wharf pilings, boat hulls or anything else that spends some time in the water.

"We actually have the highest density of mussels naturally in Puget Sound," explains Tim Jones, the farm manager at Penn Cove Shellfish.

The mussel farm is a group of 42 rafts anchored at the western end of Penn Cove. From those rafts hang some 30-thousand lines where the mussels attach themselves and grow.

Penn Cove has the highest density of naturally occurring mussels in Puget Sound, a fact punctuated by the mussel encrusted pilings of the Coupeville Wharf. Russell Sparkman

But, the magic of why these mussels are so good lies in the geography of the region. Jones explains that, "we have two fresh-water river systems that feed into the east side of the island, (which) brings a lot of nutrient rich water from the mountains." To the west is the Olympic Mountain Range. The mountains absorb much of the rain from incoming Pacific storms, creating a rain-shadow where the climate is somewhat warmer and drier. Jones says, "That makes a good situation for algae development." Mussels love to eat algae and here they grow quickly, allowing Jones and his team to harvest the mussels after they are only a year old. Jones says, "This makes the mussels always very tender, never, never chewy."

Mussels will cling to just about anything, and grow. The rafts in Penn Cove have 20 foot long lines that hang below the surface, and in a year's time, produce harvest sized mussels. © 2008 Russell Sparkman

To truly appreciate what goes on at the farm, one must literally "dive in." Jones is both a marine biologist and a diver. On the rare occasion he needs to view his crop "close-up" he enters a world where the algae rich waters glow green. Viewed from below the long lines of mussels look like some sort of underwater forest. Other sea life from Dungeness Crabs to young salmon are also present. Jones says, "It's like a little floating reef out here."

They don't do anything special to feed the mussels. Jones notes there's no way that they could. He says all they do is, "give them a place to live."

Back on the surface, workmen in bright orange waterproof suits and life vests pull the lines one-by-one onto a specially designed boat. The workmen deftly prowl the narrow walkways of the raft, deftly jumping from board to board. The life vests are for the occasional miss.

Another secret of their success is that they don't harvest mussels until after they have a customer. Jones says, "We don't harvest the mussels and sell them, we sell them and come and get them."

A conveyer belt pulls the lines of mussels onto the boat. Scrubbing brushes, much like a car wash, strip barnacles and other debris from the mussel shells. It's a balancing act because the brushing must be strong enough to clean the mussels, yet not harm the mussel's shells. The mussels are cleaned, prepared for eating, and bagged and put on ice all while still on the boat.

Penn Cove's proximity to Seattle also helps make the mussels special. The farm can get mussels from the farm to a New York restaurant dinner table in about a day.

But, the freshest mussels, of course, are those that stay close to home and are served in the restaurants of Island County. So, even if you're not prepared to "munch mussels" in the festival's next speed-eating contest, take some time to leisurely "munch mussels" in any of the area's restaurants that make the mighty mussel of Penn Cove part of their menu.

Whidbey and Camano Islands are only 25 miles north of Seattle, and 2 hours south of Vancouver. See Directions and Maps to learn more about how to get here.