When Galton Blackiston of Morston Hall makes his mussel soup he doesn’t need to stray much further than his front door to find the freshest ingredients. Photograph: Simon Lunt.

If there is an R in the month then it’s OK to eat mussels.

To me, mussels are just another of the many gems to be found on the North Norfolk coast. But it always saddens me that we in Norfolk, who are renowned for our cockles and whelks, have never given mussels the true recognition which they deserve.

You can, of course, buy mussels all squeaky clean in nets from the supermarkets. But for the freshest and most flavoursome ones I prefer to run out of the door at Morston and throw £3 in Mr Bean’s honesty box for a bag of local mussels.

Back in the kitchen I give the mussels a good dredging with plain flour and then leave them overnight in a bowl of fresh water in the fridge.
The mussels breathe in the flour and then spit it out – and with it they spit out a lot of grit.

In the morning, scrape off any barnacles, remove the beards and you are left with the plumpest, tastiest mussels you can buy.

You must be vigilant when preparing fresh mussels and throw away any that are damaged or do not open when cooked.

Try this simple-but-delicious mussel soup and put an “aahh” in your month.

Mussel Soup
Serves six

1½kg (3½lbs) fresh mussels
150g (5oz) onions
150g (5oz) leeks
110g (4oz) carrots
½ fennel bulb
75g (3oz) butter
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
glass of white wine
150g (5oz) tomatoes, chopped
700ml (1¼ pints) fish or vegetable stock
1 bouquet garni of thyme, parsley, rosemary, tarragon sprigs tied together
275ml (½ pt) double cream
pinch of saffron
salt and pepper

Clean the mussels
Wash and scrape the mussels until they are really clean, making sure that all barnacles and beards are removed. Rinse thoroughly in cold running water for a couple of minutes.

Prepare the vegetables
Peel, wash and finely slice the onions, leeks, carrots and fennel into a bowl. Heat half the butter in a large saucepan and over a low heat sweat a third of the vegetables with the garlic.

Add the mussels
Turn up the heat, add the mussels and white wine, and place a tight fitting lid on the saucepan. Shake the pan vigorously over the high heat.
Drain the mussels
The mussels will open when cooked but be sure to discard any that do not open fully. Place a large sieve over a bowl and drain the mussels, retaining the cooking liquor. Next strain this liquor through a fine sieve into another bowl. Take the mussels out of their shells and set aside, discarding the shells.

Sweat the vegetables
Melt the rest of the butter in another large saucepan and sweat the remaining two-thirds of vegetables along with the chopped tomatoes until they are soft but without colouring them.

Pour over the fish
Pour over the fish and vegetable stock, the retained mussel liquor and the bouquet garni, and bring to the boil. Add the mussels, keeping back 12 for garnishing and simmer for about 20 minutes.

Heat the soup
Remove the bouquet garni, add the double cream and saffron, and heat to the point where the liquid starts bubbling.
Then pour into a liquidiser or food processor and whiz together thoroughly before pushing through a fine sieve.

Serve the soup
When you are ready to serve the soup, bring it back to temperature in a saucepan. Heat the 12 retained mussels in a frying pan with a little oil.
Check the seasoning and serve the soup garnished with the mussels.