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Fresh Versus Frozen Fish
Could fresh fish be an environmental evil?
As the Washington Post reports, a few chefs and catering companies are pushing frozen fish as the carbon-conscious alternative to fresh, hoping to persuade food professionals to buy less same-day seafood from, say, Hawaii. Bon Appétit Management Company, a national food-service outfit, has estimated that shipping seafood by air generates “10 times as much greenhouse gas as transferring it by container ship.” With proper handling, Bon Appétit says, the differences between fresh and frozen seafood are negligible, and it has vowed to stop buying air-flown fish by April 2009.
As the Post notes, frozen fish has historically been a bulk commodity item. (Think school lunch.) That’s why getting it onto menus at white-tablecloth restaurants won’t be easy. As the head of Kona Blue Water Farms, a Hawaiian company that’s made a name for itself with sustainably farmed yellowtail, smartly says, “‘Fresh’ is the single most powerful adjective in describing seafood.”
I’d wager that the kids these days buy their first flash-frozen fish at Trader Joe’s, which has a much-discussed selection. For how-tos on preparing good frozen fish, see the advice of Mark Bittman and the collective wisdom of the Chowhound boards.
Posted by | Friday, August 1, 2008 at 11:36am | 2 comments
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I think that if I hear the words "carbon footprint" or "greenhouse gas" one more time I'm going to go postal! More often than not, buying same-day seafood as opposed to fresh supports "the little guy", smaller companies or individuals trying to make a living, who can sell what they catch and make a decent living, and who, in the process, give us better quality and fresher product.
I don't care what the "experts" say. I maintain that if I buy a fish to eat that was swimming in the ocean yesterday, it is going to taste better than something that came off a mass fish farm or that sat frozen in some grungy hold of a boat for a month.
Flash Frozen fish is better than the 'fresh' fish you get at a store but not a good as the fish you caught this morning. The 'fresh' fish at a store is better termed 'never frozen'. It is usually about 9 - 12 days old by the time you see it.
Flash Freezing takes a fish to - 40 degrees in 3 seconds which traps the water molecules in the fish meat. When thawed, the fish is almost as good as it was just before flash freezing and definitely better than 'never frozen' fish at the supermarket.
I get my Flash Frozen Fresh Fish at ReFreshing Fair Fare @ www.jdseafoodexpress.com