Fried whitebait and creamy cream sauce

Roasted sea bream is a traditional dish at its best. The mussels and mashed potatoes are served with a fresh creamy butter sauce.

Ingredients for four

600g of mussels 2 dl rye flour 2 tsp salt 1/2 dl cooking oil 2 tbsp butter for frying

Cream of cottage cheese sauce

1 tbsp cream of cottage cheese 1 tbsp lemon juice 1 tsp salt 1 handful of dill

Stir the cream of cottage cheese ingredients and place in the cupboard to season.

More experienced people can buy gutted mussels from the market, but usually the freshest fish are sold whole and have to be gutted.

Piercing the mussel (so that it doesn’t fall off)

Use a knife or fish scissors to cut the neck of the mussel (so don’t make a very deep cut). Cut the bottom off and pull it out, leaving the giblets with the fish. Hold the whitebait firmly in your hand and push the belly open with the thumb of one hand, making a small popping sound. Get the rest of the guts out into the yard and leave a clean fish, which you can rinse in water and place on a piece of kitchen paper to dry.

Frying the cutlets

Heat an iron pan or an iron skillet. Dredge the mussels in rye flour.

Butter and oil the pan and fry quickly over high heat so that the surface of the mussels browns and crisps.

Serve the fried mussels immediately hot with the mashed potatoes and creamy butter sauce.