Notwithstanding that there are now high quality frozen and frozen products on the market, the freshness at the table remains an added value for taste and well-being. Here then is how to distinguish it from defrosted products
Fresh is one thing, frozen or frozen is another. For goodness sake, a good fish is a good fish, but the difference can be seen and felt. Here then that, at the time of purchase, to understand if the fish is fresh, it is enough to observe a simple handbook that we will explain to you shortly.
The cold chain
First, however, we need to better understand how the cold chain is made in the case of fish. The deterioration action performed by the microorganisms deaths stop below -13 ° C, but resumes once the fish has been thawed: an excellent frozen or frozen product is therefore the one in which the process begins immediately, better on board large vessels than in land-based plants. And that the cold chain does not suffer interruptions.
A question of speed
There difference between frozen and frozen fish is in the rapidity with which the temperature is broken down: more slow with products frozen, very rapid with those frozen foods, with the temperature also falling to -80 ° C. With such a sudden drop the fish keeps intact most of its properties, especially from a nutritional point of view. Slow freezing, on the other hand, determines the formation of large ice crystals that, after thawing, determine aalteration of product quality and a lost of part of the nutrients, especially of the protein.
The icing
An indicator of the quality of frozen or frozen fish products is the icing, that is the patina of ice that covers the surface: it is obtained with the simple application of drinking water (for sprinkling, nebulization or immersion) for better repair them from dehydration and oxidation at low temperatures.
Because you can't refreeze
Good. But when a fish is defrosted, some differences are noticed, especially in terms of taste: is the case, for example, of the blue fish, definitely the most delicate and difficult category to keep at low temperatures due to the quantity of fat (good) it contains. Here is the decalogue to understand if you are buying fresh fish, or are rubbing it with a defrosted one. A difference not insignificant, given that defrosted fish cannot be refrozen in the house: this is because, as in all foods, freezing does not kill all bacteria, many of which merely lower their vital functions and to resume multiplication once thawing has begun. Freezing is instead fundamental for the raw fish. Or rather, thedejection: must remain at -20 ° C for at least 24 hours.
1 – Seasonality and supply chain short
To recognize fresh fish from a defrosted one, it is therefore necessary to check that the catch we are buying is Seasonal, and with a short chain: Italian fish, therefore, or at least of the Mediterranean. Also to be considered is the fact that, from August to October, our seas are subjected to bands of a period of biological shutdown.
2 – The smell
Second, the most classic of the clues: the smell. Fresh fish "tastes like sea", has a faint, salty odor, in which we can also recognize the seaweed marine: nothing to do with the most acrid odor tending to the thawed fish acid.
3 – The eye
Third clue, the eye: bright, vivid and swollen, not sunken and shrunken.
4 – The skin
Then the skin and scales must be shiny, bright and taut, rich in transparent mucus. In defrosted fish, in general, it is more opaque and tends to flake more easily.
5 – The gills
Another element to consider, the gills: in fresh fish they are well closed and, opening them, we notice a color intense red or rosé. They are also rich in mucus transparent. Otherwise, after freezing, they remain raised and turn to a pale yellow-pink color.
6 – The body
Sixth element, the body stiffness: a fresh fish presents the natural rigor mortis that lasts for at least 6-7 hours. The thawed fish is instead soft, flaccid.
7 – The belly
Seventh element, the belly. Elastic, spotless, compact. Significantly different compared to the swollen and flabby meat of defrosted fish.
8 – Meats
Eighth element – at this point verifiable only after purchase – is the appearance of the meat. In fresh fish they must be bright, firm and elastic, and after being subjected to finger pressure they must immediately return to their original position.
9 – The spine
Similarly, the spine must be clear, colorless and resistant, difficult to break; moreover it must be very close to the meat. In defrosted fish it is reddish and breaks easily.
10 – The innards
Last element, the innards smooth, clean and shiny. IS not overly smelly as in thawed fish.
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