Seafood, Gourmet foods, and Gift baskets

Almost every culture in the world takes delight in eating food from the sea because, not only are fish relatively easy to catch, they’re high in valuable nutrients. Plus, with so much variety, there are countless unique dishes to suit anyone’s taste! Seamarkfoods.com is a site devoted to providing useful knowledge regarding your favorite water-base cuisine. We are not sponsored by any specific company, this site is purely informational.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, seafood is a “low-fat source of top-quality protein, and that the health benefits of eating seafood make it one of the best choices for growing children, active adults, and the elderly.” Some of studies have found that eating fish will decrease the risk of heart attack, stroke and prevents incidents of depression.

Fishing yourself is the only way to be 100% sure of where your food comes from, but since most of us don’t have the time or geographical location to fish we must buy from the grocery store or fish markets. To ensure that you get healthy, clean food, we’ve provided some helpful hints when picking out your seafood.

First off, stick with reputable grocers; don’t be afraid to ask questions, inspect their food handling practices or the cleanliness of their facility. Only buy fish that are properly stored and refrigerated. Food should be displayed on a thick bed of ice that should not be melting and under some type of cover. Also, fish should be displayed belly-down so melting ice does not spoil them. Filets should have shiny flesh and red gills.

For those of us who live in landlocked locations, attaining fresh fish can be very difficult, which limits our selection to frozen fish. Today, there is a process that preserves fresh catches immediately (in fact, many vessels have on-board freezing technology). Although there is nothing wrong with buying frozen, there are still basic rules to follow – just like buying fresh seafood. For example, spoilage can occur if the product thaws during shipping. Never buy products with ripped or crushed packaging, or packages positioned above the "frost line" (at the top of the freezer case in the store's freezer). If the packaging is clear, look for ice crystals – if they are present, this means that the fish has thawed and then refrozen. Do not buy fish with ice crystals!

Shellfish are also very popular in modern cuisine; whether they’re eating lobsters, crab cakes or shrimp cocktails, people can’t get enough of them! Just like fish, however, there are certain rules one must follow to ensure safe eating. For example, always discard cracked or broken shellfish – clams, mussels and oysters with broken shells bust be thrown away. Leg movement is also very important when picking out crabs or lobsters. These animals are known to spoil quickly after death, and ones that do not move their legs are most-likely dead. Finally, perform a tap test: When you tap on live oysters, calms or mussels, they will close up. If they do not close, they’re probably dead and you should nsot purchase them.

 

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