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1
Scrub the mussels under cold running water. Pull off every beard with a sharp tug toward the hinge. Discard any mussel that remains open after a firm tap on the work surface. The cleaned mussels must be dry-shelled before they enter the pan.
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2
Set a wide pan — large enough to hold the mussels in no more than two layers — over maximum heat. Allow it to become very hot with no liquid in it. The initial burst of steam that opens the mussels depends entirely on the heat of this dry pan.
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3
Add the mussels, olive oil, cracked black pepper, and crushed garlic to the pan all at once. Clamp the lid on immediately. Do not lift it for a minimum of 3 minutes. The steam must build and be held; lifting the lid before this point dissipates it and the mussels will not open cleanly. This is where the dish lives or dies: the sealed pan at maximum heat for those first minutes is the entire technique.
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4
After 3 minutes, lift the lid. The great majority of shells should be open. Replace the lid for a further 1–2 minutes for any that remain shut. At 5 minutes total, remove and discard every mussel that has not opened — they were dead before cooking and are not safe to eat.
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5
Transfer the mussels and all their liquor — which has combined with the olive oil and pepper to form the sauce — immediately into warmed bowls. Scatter the parsley over at the moment of service, not before. The dish must reach the table at once; mussels left in residual heat after opening become rubbery.