On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 400
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howlongithasbeenintransit,orhowithas
beenhandled.Soit’simportanttobeableto
recognizegood-qualityfishwhenweseeit.
Butlooksandsmellcanbedeceiving.Even
perfectlyfreshfishmaynotbeofthebest
qualityifithasbeencaughtinadepletedstate
afterspawning.Sotheidealsolutionistofind
aknowledgeableandreliablefishmerchant
whoknowstheseasonalityoffishquality,and
buysaccordingly.Suchamerchantisalso
morelikelytobeselectiveabouthissuppliers,
andlesslikelytosellseafoodthat’spastits
prime.
It’spreferabletohavefilletsandsteakscut
toorderfromawholefish,becausecutting
immediatelyexposesnewsurfacesto
microbesandtheair.Oldcutsurfaceswillbe
staleandsmelly.
HandlingFreshlyKilledFish
Sport fishermen may not get around to
cooking their catch until it has already
begun to stiffen. Fortunately, fish in rigor
aren’t as tough as beef or pork would be.
It’samistake,however,tocutupafreshly
killed, pre-rigor fish into steaks or fillets,
and not either cook or freeze the pieces
immediately. If rigor develops in the
pieces, the severed muscle fibers are free
to contract, and they will shorten by as
much as half into a corrugated, rubbery
mass. If instead the pieces are quickly
frozen,andthenallowedtothawgradually
sothatthemuscleenergystoresslowlyrun
down while the piece shapes are
maintained by some ice crystals, this
contractioncanbemostlyavoided.
Inthecaseofawholefish:
Theskinshouldbeglossyandtaut.On
lessfreshfishitwillbedulland
wrinkled.Colorisnotahelpfulguide
becausemanyskincolorsfadequickly
afterthefishdies.
Ifpresent,thenaturalproteinaceous
