Trying to buy seafood in the UK these days is still a hit and miss affair particularly if you don’t live anywhere near a fishing port.

If you have a good local fishmonger then use him! But also don’t be afraid of telling him if the fish you bought last Friday was not as fresh as usual, tactfully of course.
Try to build a relationship with your fishmonger, after all when doing a dinner party, which involves seafood there is nothing more reassuring that knowing your seafood is at the peak of freshness. In the warmer summer months I often take a cooler bag with me and several cool blocks when I go shopping so I can put the fresh food items inside and keep them cool. I find this particularly useful when buying seafood. Of course make sure the seafood is well wrapped before placing into the cooler bag.

Buying Tips

Remember really fresh fish does not have much of a fishy smell, and whilst the seafood counter or market may have a residual “fishy smell” the fish you are
buying should not!

Look for clear eyes; they should not be sunken in or cloudy.

If the fish still has its gills they should be red in colour not brown.

Fresh fish should look plump and firm and many flat fishes such as plaice, lemon sole etc will retain their natural sea slime that protects them.

Round fish generally have bigger scales and when very fresh the scales seem almost Iridescent

Often the marking on certain fish can indicate quality, such as the orange spots on the dark skin side of Plaice. Bright markings usually indicate not only freshness but that the fish was healthy.

When ever possible I try to buy my fish whole and ask the fishmonger to then fillet it. If the dish I’m preparing calls for whole fish then I will again ask the fishmonger to gut it for me. After all why not have it done for you since there is no additional charge?

Storing Fish

Ideally you should buy your seafood the day you intend to cook it, but when that is not possible here are a few tips. I empty out one of the crisper/salad boxes and when clean, I place several frozen cool blocks at the bottom then line the crisper box with tin foil.

I do this for 3 good reasons.
Storing it in this way will keep it cooler, since domestic fridges are not as cold as a good fish fridge.

Being in the bottom of the fridge means the seafood can not drip onto other food stuffs

When your family are opening and shutting the fridge the temperature rises,
and it takes time to get back down to the correct temp. So keeping your fish in the crisper box will affect the storage temperature a lot less.

Buying & Storing Seafood© Kevin Ashton 2004