Clean Monday is here and consumers are preparing shopping lists for seafood and other fasting items for their dinner table.
EFET gives some useful tips for choosing seafood to eat during Lent.
Cephalopods (e.g. octopuses, squids, cuttlefish, cuttlefish)
They are available for purchase, either fresh, frozen or thawed.
In the fresh we pay attention to:
– Not to have an unpleasant smell, ammonia smell or any other smell, foreign to the product, but to give off the characteristic smell of the sea.
– The surface of the body should be moist and shiny, while the tentacles and suction cups should be able to withstand light pulling and not detach easily.
– The flesh should be firm, elastic and shiny while the eyes should be shiny, lively without spots.
Also, bearing in mind that the value of the squid is more than twice that of the thrapsal, it is good to keep in mind the differences in characteristics between squids and thrapsal and to be able to tell them apart, to avoid any possible confusion.
Squids and squids have a characteristic morphological difference in the shape of their fin. Squids have a diamond-shaped fin that runs the length of their body, while the fin in thrapsals is triangular in shape and more flattened.
When the two species are exposed fresh on ice it is easy to tell them apart, because the squids have ten tentacles of similar length, while the squids have two characteristic tentacles longer than the remaining eight.
Frozen (packaged or bulk) cephalopods should not be sold with an altered color, while they are usually covered by a layer of ice. After thawing, the contents should have the color and smell of the fresh product.
Thawed catches, when sold, must have a clear statement of their thawed state, on the indicative sales sign, in addition to the indications on their packaging.
Crustaceans (eg mussels, quinces, shiners, oysters, clams, scallops)
Since they are sold fresh in shell they should be alive and this is easily seen if the following apply:
– The shell is closed and very difficult to open or if it is partially open with the slightest pressure on the shell it closes tightly by itself. The contents are liquid, clean and odorless.
– The flesh is moist, firmly attached to the shell (prick with a pin or a few drops of lemon causes contraction of the body).
– For shelled mussels sold on ice, we check that their flesh is shiny, cohesive and smells of the sea.
– Mussels are also sold frozen in or out of shell.
Shellfish (e.g. shrimp, crayfish, lobster, crab)
We find them on the market either fresh, frozen or thawed.
Regarding fresh, we check that:
– They do not have an unpleasant smell, but they give off the characteristic smell of the sea.
– Their legs are firmly attached to the body and hard.
– The membrane of the chest is stretched, durable and transparent.
– The head and thorax are light-colored, not black, and they must not have black spots.
– They have reflex movements in the eyes, antennae and legs when alive.
In general, be aware that fresh shrimp slip easily from the hand.
Sea urchins
Sea urchins must be alive at the time of purchase, which is easily distinguished by the movement of their spines. When choosing canned fish that is stored in the refrigerator or outside the refrigerator, make sure that it is intact and sealed, without dents or bulges.
Source: healthstat.gr
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