Mejillones Tigres de Bilbao

Mejillones tigres are Basque, especially Bilbao's, and they are mussels made bold without becoming foolish: the meat is chopped into a thick, spicy bechamel, packed back into the cleaned shells, breaded, and fried. They are called tigres for the bite. Not for punishment. If all you taste is chilli, someone lost the mussel.

The method that decides them is the bechamel. Cook the onion and pepper low until sweet, stir in the flour long enough to lose its raw taste, then add the milk and mussel liquor slowly so the filling turns thick and glossy, not pasty and not loose. It has to mound in the shell and hold its shape under breadcrumbs. That is the whole trick.

If you are far from Bilbao, buy the best rope-grown mussels you can find, small or medium if possible, and use a dry white wine in the cooking pot only if the mussels are clean and sweet. No fresh guindilla? Use a small dried cayenne or a pinch of hot pimentón with sweet pimentón. It changes the heat, not the dish. Pésalo, no lo adivines. These reward exactness.

Make them ahead if you like. Fill the shells, chill them firm, then bread and fry just before serving so the crust snaps and the inside stays soft. Siempre sale, si lo sigues. My Margin beside this one says only: don't thin the filling to please the spoon, because the fryer will punish you for it.