Peters Brauhaus ★ 4.4
Peters Brauhaus on Mühlengasse in Cologne's Altstadt serves Peters Kölsch alongside Rhenish classics 350 metres from the Cathedral in a wood-panelled room.
History
Cologne's position on the Rhine made river and coastal seafood a historical part of the city's diet, and the Rhenish tradition of cooking mussels in Mosel or Rheingau Riesling persists in Brauhäusern. The mussel season runs September to April (months with an R in German), tied to North Sea and Belgian-Dutch coastal harvests delivered overnight by truck. Peters Brauhaus and Brauerei zur Malzmühle plate the canonical version with rye bread for soaking the broth.
Common allergens: Molluscs, Gluten
Make it at home
Ingredients
- 3kg live mussels, scrubbed and de-bearded
- 60g unsalted butter
- 2 large onions, finely diced
- 1 leek (white and pale green only), finely sliced
- 3 celery sticks, finely diced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 500ml dry Riesling or other dry white wine
- 1 bay leaf, 6 white peppercorns
- 1 large bunch flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
- Black pepper
- Rye bread and cold butter to serve
Method
- Discard any mussels with broken shells or any that stay open when tapped firmly.
- Melt the butter in a very large pot. Soften the onions, leek and celery over medium heat for 10 minutes without colour.
- Add the garlic and cook 1 minute.
- Pour in the wine, add the bay and peppercorns, and bring to a hard boil.
- Tip in the mussels, cover the pot, and steam over high heat 5 to 6 minutes, shaking the pot once.
- Lift the lid: the mussels should be open. Discard any that stayed shut.
- Stir in most of the parsley and a generous grind of pepper.
- Tip the mussels and all the broth into a deep serving pot and place in the centre of the table. Bring extra bowls for shells, rye bread for the broth, and cold Kölsch.
Tip from the editors. Never salt the broth; the mussels release plenty of seawater as they open. Cook them no more than 6 minutes; overcooked mussels shrink to chewy nubs.
Where to eat muscheln in weißwein
Muscheln in Weißwein in Cologne
Brauerei zur Malzmühle ★ 4.3
Brauerei zur Malzmühle on Cologne's Heumarkt has brewed Mühlen Kölsch since 1858 and once served Bill Clinton; consistently fresh pours in the Altstadt.
Order: Halve Hahn, the traditional rye roll with aged Gouda, alongside a freshly tapped Mühlen Kölsch
Tip: Monday to Thursday from 14:00, Friday to Sunday from noon. Less tourist-heavy than the Cathedral-adjacent Brauhäuser.
Lommerzheim ★ 4.7
Lommerzheim in Cologne-Deutz has served the city's most argued-over pork chop since 1959; cash only, closed Sundays, unchanged since Mick Jagger ate there.
Why locals love it: On the Deutz east bank away from the tourist centre; no concessions to comfort or modernity.
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