ICELANDIC COD

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Every winter a new twist on an old fish arrives, Icelandic cod. The cod that comes from Iceland never ceases to amaze me, despite the fact it is the same species as the cod Gadus morhua we receive from the eastern U.S. seaboard everyday. Cod is shipped in 50lb boxes containing 4 fish each weighing 10-15lbs head off. The state that this fish comes to the United States is just awesome. My supplier in Iceland tells me that it is because of the cold waters that the fish come from. Well to some extent I can believe that that is true, but I think they must be handling the fish in a much better way. And the first clue is the use of gel packs and not ice. Although keeping fish buried in ice will keep it cold and limit deterioration, the ice itself often causes physical damage to the flesh of the fish. The Icelandic cod we receive is packed carefully and in a box that allows any liquid to drain away from the fish. This cod stays in rigor for days. As a final note, the Icelandic cod fishery is highly managed and efforts are being made to promote sustainability because of the huge dependency upon the ocean as it relates to the economy of Iceland. But for now we can only say that insufficient data exists for this fishery.

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Xopher Xadin said…
http://sites.google.com/site/pondhousereddingct/Home/fish-food-adventures-in-cod-1
August 22, 2009 at 11:13 AM
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