The food lab better home cooking through science ( PDFDrive ) 460

HOWTOBUY,STORE,AND
PREPAREFISHFORCOOKING

T

here’s a reason that fish is far more prone to

spoilage than the flesh of land animals. Spoilage


occurs via two means: the breakdown of cells
through the action of enzymes naturally present in
meat# and the proliferation of bacteria. Both of
thesethingsoccuratfasterratesasthetemperature
increases.
Now, land-based, warm-blooded animals like
cows, chickens, and pigs are used to living in warm
environments and they have metabolisms to match.
Take their meat and refrigerate it, and enzymatic
andbacterialactionslowsdowntoacrawl.Fish,on
the other hand, are designed to operate in the low
temperatures of ocean waters. Some species of
Arcticordeepwaterfishspendmostoftheirlivesin
water that is just barely above freezing. Compared
to that, the 40°F of an average refrigerator is
positively balmy. So fish-related enzymatic action
will occur just fine in your fridge or the fish
market’sdisplaycase.
That’s why it’s so hard to find great fish on a
regularbasis,andwhyyoushouldcookfishassoon
aspossibleafterbuyingit.

Buying
Herearesometipsforbuyingfish:
• Look at the fish market itself. Is
everythingcleanandorderly?Isthefishdisplayed
with care and kept on top of and under ice at all
times? If your fishmonger looks careless with his