Buying Seafood | Wednesday’s In the Know
When buying seafood, it’s important to know what you are looking for. Follow these guidelines and you will be set for success each and every time.
1. Shop smart: Get to know your local fishmongers and seafood departments. From their knowledge, quality, smell, cleanliness and overall sanitation, the care they take in their product speaks volumes!
2. Know what to look for:
a. Smell: Clean, fresh and “like the sea.” It should in no way be fishy smelling!
b. Sight:
i. Fish should have clear, bright and bulging eyes. If they are cloudy or sunken, that fish isn’t for you. Scales should be tight, skin should look bright and fresh, and gills bright pink.
ii. Shellfish like clams, oysters and mussels should be firmly closed with no cracks or major blemishes.
3. Fresh vs. Frozen Shellfish (like shrimp): If they don’t have a fresh catch, buy frozen! Often grocery stores buy items frozen and thawed at the store. When buying frozen, seafood was caught and immediately frozen at sea.
4. Farm vs. Wild: Always buy wild! If the wild variety doesn’t look as good as the farm, tweak your menu to accommodate what looks good. In other words, if you had a choice between a brown sad looking banana and a crisp red apple, would you get the banana?
You may end up paying more for a better product, but the taste and overall quality will most definitely make up for it!
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Cheers to starting a new tradition around The Table Together!
Sincerely,
Tiffany Lewis
Founder and true believer in the power of bringing people around The Table Together!