The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Fresh catches from the deep (freeze)
With better tech and right species, frozen seafood can lead to fine meals.
In the tiny bayou town of Chauvin, Louisiana, where Melissa Martin grew up, practically every home has a large chest freezer — sometimes two.
“We’re like a fish factory down there,” says the chef and author of “Mosquito Supper Club: Cajun Recipes From a Disappearing Bayou” (Artisan Books, $35). “My family fishes every day. They fillet what they catch, eat some fresh right away, and freeze the rest for later.”
Today at her intimate New Orleans restaurant for which her book is named, she serves seafood she buys directly from local fishermen she knows. Almost all of it, other than crab and crawfish, has been previously frozen.
“It’s a delicacy to be able to catch a fish and immediately put it on the grill,” says Martin. “But if you can’t do that, there’s nothing wrong with frozen seafood, if you buy from a trusted source.”
Among consumers who must rely on the supermarket for their seafood choices, frozen seafood has suffered a bad rap, and often for justifiable reasons. Its delicate flesh can turn to mush if not frozen and thawed under optimal conditions.
But sourcing never-frozen seafood can be an expensive and tricky proposition for the average consumer who doesn’t have a reliable fishmonger to turn to for guidance. Much of what’s sold at supermarket seafood counters has been sitting on ice for days. And nearly all shrimp, and often other offerings on display, have been pre-frozen and thawed for visual appeal.
But freezing technology has vastly improved, says Bill Demmond, COO for Inland Seafood in Atlanta. “And the reality is nowadays, most are flash-frozen right on the boat, sometimes to temperatures of under minus 120 degrees within five or six minutes, and that makes a huge difference in the texture. (Depending on the season and species), frozen is often a little better than never-frozen.”
Consumers seem to be catching on to this realization. The seafood industry website SeafoodSource reported that late May sales of frozen seafood outpaced all other frozen food categories, compared to the previous year. And in the wake of COVID-19, as home cooks get more adventurous in exploring proteins beyond the familiar, retail sales of seafood in all forms — fresh, frozen, and shelf-stable — are setting records across the U.S.
Atlanta chef and culinary consultant Virginia Willis began stocking her home freezer with individual packages of frozen fish long before the pandemic, for not only the taste, but for the myriad health benefits: heart-healthy, good for the brain, and much more. “With my desire to eat more fish, it just seemed a smart thing to keep in the freezer. I still buy fresh fish at the market, but frozen is super handy to have on hand.”
An avid fisher for most of her life, Willis educates the public on seafood sustainability as a member of Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch Blue Ribbon Task Force, and has recently begun consulting with Wild Alaska Seafood, a monthly membership that delivers wild-caught, sustainable seafood to your door.
Quality, of course, ranges widely from one product to the next. Fresh or frozen, it’s vital to know where your seafood comes from and how it was raised, she says. Read labels. Buy domestic when in doubt. You’ll have to pay more for wild-caught American shrimp than an imported farm-raised species, but “a lot of farm-raised shrimp is not sustainable and grown in massive farms where antibiotics are administered,” Willis notes. Further guidance can be found at seafoodwatch.org.
And be sure to follow package instructions for thawing. For best results, Willis recommends defrosting slowly overnight in the refrigerator, as “you’re less likely to have pockets of a stillfrozen middle.” But if you’re in a rush, you can also thaw the fillets or shellfish in a bowl of cold water 30 minutes or so before cooking. Lastly, if the fish is vacuum-sealed, remove all packaging before thawing to prevent formation of toxins that can cause botulism.