# Smelly Cod



## Scott-180

hi everyone,

Im very new to cooking but really trying to throw myself into it. I recently bought some cod which I shallow fried in butter before baking it in the oven. It turned out pretty well but my whole apartment smelled really badly of fish.

I thought that cod was not supposed to be a smelly fish so i was surprised. I bought it pre-packed from the super market and not from a fish monger. Could this be the problem or does all cod smell like this?

any help would be greatly appreciated!


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## buckytom

A proper fish monger would have handled it correctly. 

You must first cut off its nose...


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## GotGarlic

I haven't cooked cod often, but in general, when fish is overcooked, it smells very fishy. It doesn't take long at all to cook fish. How did you cook it and for how long?


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## Scott-180

GotGarlic said:


> I haven't cooked cod often, but in general, when fish is overcooked, it smells very fishy. It doesn't take long at all to cook fish. How did you cook it and for how long?



not very long, maybe a couple minutes just to sear it. 

To be honest, it smelled really strong as soon as i opened the packet


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## Kayelle

> To be honest, it smelled really strong as soon as i opened the packet




There you have it Scott. It was bad to start. Fresh fish should smell like the sea.


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## Addie

Kayelle said:


> There you have it Scott. It was bad to start. Fresh fish should smell like the sea.



Ditto what K said.

Having been married to a commercial fisherman, he often brought home fish from the last catch before tying up to unload in port. The fish, regardless of what type, cod, haddock, etc. always smelled of salt water. You should have brought it back with wrapper to the store. 

BTW, don't shop there anymore. Evidently, they don't take pride in their products and are willing to compromise the health and well being.


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## Scott-180

thanks Addie and K,

Looks like you both live near the cost so you obviously know what you are talking about! I won't shop there anymore. It's sometimes just too convenient to just grab something from a supermarket shelf.


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## caseydog

Fish should not smell "fishy." Where I live, "fresh" fish is not available, at least for a reasonable price. But, fish that is frozen immediately after it is caught is almost as good as fresh off the boat. 

You are better off buying frozen cod than what most stores call fresh cod. Most stores just thaw frozen fish and call it fresh. You are better off buying frozen fish, and keeping it frozen until right before you cook it. 

CD


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## tenspeed

caseydog said:


> Fish should not smell "fishy." Where I live, "fresh" fish is not available, at least for a reasonable price. But, fish that is frozen immediately after it is caught is almost as good as fresh off the boat.
> 
> You are better off buying frozen cod than what most stores call fresh cod. Most stores just thaw frozen fish and call it fresh. You are better off buying frozen fish, and keeping it frozen until right before you cook it.
> 
> CD


  This is unfortunately true.  After centuries of overfishing, it's hard to get really fresh fish here on the New England coast.  Most of it is caught well off the coast (or half way around the world) and has to be frozen.  I can get fresh fish from some seafood stores, but it's fairly pricey.  The stuff in packages?  Most likely it was thawed, and if it didn't sell yesterday, it's still on the shelf today (or worse).


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## CraigC

Kayelle said:


> There you have it Scott. It was bad to start. Fresh fish should smell like the sea.



Except for freshwater fish. But still it shouldn't smell "fishy".


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## Roll_Bones

Sounds like you got old fish if it smelled right out of the packaging.
I am also away from the coast so we buy frozen fish.

It also sounds like you over cooked it.  I would pick one method. Pan fry or oven and leave it at that.  Fish needs very little cooking.
Cod is a very mild tasting fish. I like it a lot.

Sometimes Costco has halibut fresh?  Its in the cold section with the salmon, tilapia and shell fish. I will have to verify its fresh?  I know it comes from the west coast so I guess I already know the answer?

Its VERY expensive. I love halibut the most and the last time I looked it was $29 a pound.
They have giant king crab legs for less. $20 a pound.


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## Mad Cook

Scott-180 said:


> hi everyone,
> 
> Im very new to cooking but really trying to throw myself into it. I recently bought some cod which I shallow fried in butter before baking it in the oven. It turned out pretty well but my whole apartment smelled really badly of fish.
> 
> I thought that cod was not supposed to be a smelly fish so i was surprised. I bought it pre-packed from the super market and not from a fish monger. Could this be the problem or does all cod smell like this?
> 
> any help would be greatly appreciated!


I'm lucky in that I live only about 3/4s of an hour from the nearest fishing port (Fleetwood in Lancashire) so our local fishmonger buys his fish off the quay every morning. Nowhere in the British Isles is more than 75 miles from the sea but if I lived anywhere else I'd be inclined to buy frozen fish.

As everyone else says, fish should not smell "fishy". It should "smell of the sea" as an old fisherman, who lived near where we had a caravan in the 1950s, used to say. We used to buy mackerel from his boat and he had to whack it on the head because it was still alive! We took it straight back to the caravan and Mother cooked it immediately. Sadly those days are gone but frozen fish serves a similar purpose if you aren't close enough to get very fresh live fish. These days it's often frozen at sea when it's caught on the bigger boats which are out for weeks at a time.

If you see the fish whole its eyes should be bright and not sunken and the inner gills bright red. The skin, if still on the fish, should be shiny and the natural markings clearly showing. Ideally, fish on the bone should be firm and not flabby -  flabbiness means it's been hanging around too long.If you are allowed to poke it with your finger there shouldn't be a mark left on the flesh. 

How some of this helps.


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## taxlady

Kayelle said:


> There you have it Scott. It was bad to start. Fresh fish should smell like the sea.


It should smell like the sea, not like a harbour bottom at low tide.


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## taxlady

Excellent tips MC.


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## Linda0818

Or if it smells like ammonia. That means the seafood is in the decomposing stages. 

I've had the worst luck with buying smelly cod. Maybe it's a fish that goes bad quickly, but I'm so paranoid now of purchasing cod from the seafood department at the grocery that I only buy it frozen. 

I smell everything as soon as I open it, including chicken and other meats, and if any of it smells even slightly off, it goes into the trash.


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## taxlady

Linda0818 said:


> Or if it smells like ammonia. That means the seafood is in the decomposing stages.
> 
> I've had the worst luck with buying smelly cod. Maybe it's a fish that goes bad quickly, but I'm so paranoid now of purchasing cod from the seafood department at the grocery that I only buy it frozen.
> 
> I smell everything as soon as I open it, including chicken and other meats, and if any of it smells even slightly off, it goes into the trash.



I would bring it back to the store. They need to know that it wasn't fresh. If they know, then they need to know that people won't put up with food that smells off.


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## Linda0818

taxlady said:


> I would bring it back to the store. They need to know that it wasn't fresh. If they know, then they need to know that people won't put up with food that smells off.




I didn't bother taking the food back to the store, but I did call and talk to a manager both times. After the 2nd time, I stopped buying it.


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## CraigC

Linda0818 said:


> I smell everything as soon as I open it, including chicken and other meats, and if any of it smells even slightly off, it goes into the trash.



I return stuff, throwing it in the trash is a waste of money. I got so fed up with getting bad chicken from Publix and having to return it, I started tearing open the plastic right at the case. I never buy chicken there any more.


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## Caslon

Scott-180 said:


> hi everyone,
> 
> Im very new to cooking but really trying to throw myself into it. I recently bought some cod which I shallow fried in butter before baking it in the oven. It turned out pretty well but my whole apartment smelled really badly of fish.
> 
> I thought that cod was not supposed to be a smelly fish so i was surprised. I bought it pre-packed from the super market and not from a fish monger. Could this be the problem or does all cod smell like this?
> 
> any help would be greatly appreciated!



Someone let the air out.
Cod used to be the most plentiful fish in the sea. It's expensive now.


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## Linda0818

CraigC said:


> I return stuff, throwing it in the trash is a waste of money. I got so fed up with getting bad chicken from Publix and having to return it, I started tearing open the plastic right at the case. I never buy chicken there any more.



I wouldn't either. 

My favorite place to buy seafood is Giant Eagle. It always tastes fresh. I also occasionally go to Giant Eagle Market District, where I find, on rare occasions, Monkfish. That's a very rare treat.


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## buckytom

I was talking with some fishing buddies, and we all recollected that Atlantic cod are at their best in the fall into winter. 

I haven't been out for cod in many years. There are few fish the yield so much good flesh.

I hate to say it, but smelly cod might be the year old stuff at the bottom of a frozen pile being cleaned out to make room for this year's catch. (even though the catch is lower this time of year - for several reasons).
Or, it was improperly handled at some point.


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## jennyema

Never, ever buy prepackaged fish


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## Kayelle

jennyema said:


> Never, ever buy prepackaged fish




+1
 Only buy frozen. You have no clue how long prepackaged fish has been defrosted.


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## Addie

I presently have a box from Nova Scotia of salted Cod. My plans for it are creamed cod with mashed taters and petite peas. 


Right now Cod is on the endangered list and the boats docking here on the East Coast are allowed to catch just so many pounds per trip. Any poundage over the amount, is confiscated. At one time their whole catch would be confiscated. Then just prior to a very religious holiday all the boats sat tied up here in Boston. That changed the rule real quick. Folks were driving to NH or RI to get their fish. The Govt. mustn't mess with religious traditions. 

Other than salted Cod, I prefer Atlantic Haddock. Oddly enough, Cod used to be really inexpensive. And it would cost you an arm and leg along with the life of your first born for Haddock. I've seen Haddock going for more than $10 a pound. Now it is down to $7.00-$8.99 per pound. Come warm weather the price will go down even more.


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## Linda0818

Kayelle said:


> +1
> Only buy frozen. You have no clue how long prepackaged fish has been defrosted.


Agreed. I only buy frozen now.


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## GotGarlic

Kayelle said:


> +1
> Only buy frozen. You have no clue how long prepackaged fish has been defrosted.





Linda0818 said:


> Agreed. I only buy frozen now.


There's one fishmonger near me that I trust to have fresh seafood, but it's not prepackaged. One time, I wanted some scallops and stopped by to see what he had. He told me to come back in a couple of hours because he had a truckload of seafood being driven down from New England, including scallops that had been caught that morning. I've also bought seafood for ceviche from him. I ask him what he recommends from what he has in the case and he will even slice it for me. It's very expensive, though - just about everything is over $20/lb. - so shopping there is an occasional treat.


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## Addie

GotGarlic said:


> There's one fishmonger near me that I trust to have fresh seafood, but it's not prepackaged. One time, I wanted some scallops and stopped by to see what he had. He told me to come back in a couple of hours because he had a truckload of seafood being driven down from New England, including scallops that had been caught that morning. I've also bought seafood for ceviche from him. I ask him what he recommends from what he has in the case and he will even slice it for me. It's very expensive, though - just about everything is* over $20/lb. *- so shopping there is an occasional treat.



Wow! And again WOW!!! I would have a heart attack looking at those prices. Our scallop fleet is out of New Bedford in SE Mass. Emeril Lagasse home town. One of the delicacies they serve down there is Conch Salad. Stinks to high heaven. Conch is a huge crab type animal in the really large shells you find on the seashore. My second husband used to bring home those shells with the live animal in it. I kept a bucket of bleach outside and he would put the shell in it before I would allow it in the house. The Pirate would take the shell down to the Curio Shop and sell the shell for money for the movies. 

I know how lucky I am living here. Now at that price, I know just how much luckier I am. 

Last week I saw scallops selling for $9.00 lb. They were huge. I almost bought ten of them. Five for Pirate and five for me. YUM!


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## taxlady

Addie said:


> Wow! And again WOW!!! I would have a heart attack looking at those prices. Our scallop fleet is out of New Bedford in SE Mass. Emeril Lagasse home town. One of the delicacies they serve down there is Conch Salad. Stinks to high heaven. C*onch is a huge crab type animal in the really large shells you find on the seashore.* My second husband used to bring home those shells with the live animal in it. I kept a bucket of bleach outside and he would put the shell in it before I would allow it in the house. The Pirate would take the shell down to the Curio Shop and sell the shell for money for the movies.
> 
> I know how lucky I am living here. Now at that price, I know just how much luckier I am.
> 
> Last week I saw scallops selling for $9.00 lb. They were huge. I almost bought ten of them. Five for Pirate and five for me. YUM!


 Conch is more snail like than crab like. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conch


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## Linda0818

GotGarlic said:


> There's one fishmonger near me that I trust to have fresh seafood, but it's not prepackaged. One time, I wanted some scallops and stopped by to see what he had. He told me to come back in a couple of hours because he had a truckload of seafood being driven down from New England, including scallops that had been caught that morning. I've also bought seafood for ceviche from him. I ask him what he recommends from what he has in the case and he will even slice it for me. It's very expensive, though - just about everything is over $20/lb. - so shopping there is an occasional treat.


That's pretty pricey, but I think I'd pay it for some fresh scallops.


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## GotGarlic

Addie said:


> Wow! And again WOW!!! I would have a heart attack looking at those prices. Our scallop fleet is out of New Bedford in SE Mass. Emeril Lagasse home town. One of the delicacies they serve down there is Conch Salad. Stinks to high heaven. Conch is a huge crab type animal in the really large shells you find on the seashore. My second husband used to bring home those shells with the live animal in it. I kept a bucket of bleach outside and he would put the shell in it before I would allow it in the house. The Pirate would take the shell down to the Curio Shop and sell the shell for money for the movies.
> 
> I know how lucky I am living here. Now at that price, I know just how much luckier I am.
> 
> Last week I saw scallops selling for $9.00 lb. They were huge. I almost bought ten of them. Five for Pirate and five for me. YUM!



Was that at your local grocery store? They were most likely wet-pack scallops treated with sodium tripolyphosphate, to help them retain moisture. That also makes it difficult to sear them well because they're so wet. I can get those cheap scallops at my grocery store, too, but they're not the ones I want. The ones I'm talking about are dry-pack with no added chemicals.

I've had conch salad many times in Florida. They should not smell bad. Like other seafood, they should smell like the sea. If they smell bad, they are bad.


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## Linda0818

I've never had conch salad, but while visiting Florida, I ate the best fish sandwich I've ever had in my life. A couple friends and I went to this little beach side cafe and I ordered the fish sandwich and it was a Grouper filet that had to have been almost 2 inches thick. It came on a toasted hoagie roll with lettuce, tomato, onion and tartar (on the side). I wanted to taste that fish, so I only spread on a very thin layer of the tartar sauce and it was the most amazing thing I've eaten in a long time.


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## buckytom

Most fish that is sold as conch is actually its cousin, the whelk.

Conchs are from warmer waters, and are herbivores. Whelks can live in colder water, and are carnivores or scavengers.

The smaller ones are delicious quickly baked or grilled right in their own shells, much like snails.


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## Addie

GotGarlic said:


> Was that at your local grocery store? They were most likely wet-pack scallops treated with sodium tripolyphosphate, to help them retain moisture. That also makes it difficult to sear them well because they're so wet. I can get those cheap scallops at my grocery store, too, but they're not the ones I want. The ones I'm talking about are dry-pack with no added chemicals.
> 
> I've had conch salad many times in Florida. They should not smell bad. Like other seafood, they should smell like the sea. If they smell bad, they are bad.



No. The sign said "Dry Scallops". I know the difference between them. I never buy wet ones. I refuse to pay for water. I never asked my mother what my first solid food was. But I wouldn't be surprised if it was seafood. During WWII, if there were small kids in the family, you would always find them at the beach in the summer, digging clams for meatless days. And after a Nor'easter, it was lobsters also. That's probably why I ended up marrying a  professional fisherman. Seafood is as much a part of my makeup as breathing.


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## Cooking Goddess

*Addie*, I'm going to guess those scallops were older stock that the seafood manager needed to move along. The best price I've seen for dry-pack, fresh scallops at either Market Basket or Price Chopper has been $12.99. This week they're $13.99. Still a better bargain than lobster by a long shot.



Linda0818 said:


> ...It was a Grouper filet that had to have been almost 2 inches thick...and it was the most amazing thing I've eaten in a long time.


Grouper is Himself's favorite fish. We usually go to FL for a week each year. The first thing he tracks down is a grouper something - sandwich, dinner, nuggets. Loves his grouper!


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## Linda0818

Cooking Goddess said:


> *Addie*, I'm going to guess those scallops were older stock that the seafood manager needed to move along. The best price I've seen for dry-pack, fresh scallops at either Market Basket or Price Chopper has been $12.99. This week they're $13.99. Still a better bargain than lobster by a long shot.
> 
> *Grouper is Himself's favorite fish. We usually go to FL for a week each year. The first thing he tracks down is a grouper something - sandwich, dinner, nuggets. Loves his grouper!*


 It's wonderful stuff. I also love orange roughy.

I mentioned monkfish a few posts back. Has anyone here ever had it?


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## taxlady

I had monk fish once. It was at a buffet in Iceland. It was really yummy.


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## JustJoel

Linda0818 said:


> It's wonderful stuff. I also love orange roughy.
> 
> I mentioned monkfish a few posts back. Has anyone here ever had it?


I have, in Japan, where it’s known as the “poor man’s fugu.” (Fugu is the pufferfish that is poisonous if not prepared correctly. It’s a Japanese delicacy, very strictly regulated and quite expensive.) If I remember correctly, it’s a firm white fleshed fish that’s very delicately flavored.


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## Linda0818

Yes, exactly, it's very firm and very mild and super delicious. Around these parts, it's known as "poor man's lobster" because the flesh, in taste and texture, is very similar. With the monkfish, however, only the tail can be eaten. It's an ugly ugly ugly fish whose upper body is basically all head, bones and teeth. But the tail is divine.

I don't find it often and, when I do, it's pretty pricey. But I pay whatever it costs at the time, since finding monkfish here in Columbus, Ohio, is like discovering a treasure chest at the bottom of the sea.


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## tenspeed

Monkfish is commonly available here, typically around $7.00 / lb.  While the texture is similar to lobster, the flavor isn't.  Lobster is sweeter and more delicate in flavor  I've grilled monkfish with a little EVOO and garlic.  Not bad, but nowhere near as good as lobster.

  Fresh dry scallops are usually in the $15 - $18 / lb. range.  A supermarket had a special early this summer when they were about $10 - $12 / lb. (I can't remember the exact price), but that was for one week only.  I've seen previously frozen scallops for $13 or so.


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## CraigC

Grouper, especially black and gag are excellent. I love to blacken it, either for a sandwich or with rice pilaf and green vege for a side. If you have had conch since around 1977, it was not from Florida. A 10 year ban was placed on harvesting Queen conch back then and it was made permanent in 1985.


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## taxlady

Every time I hear about conch I'm reminded of a lady I worked with back in the 1970s. She was from Jamaica and told me that conch was considered poor people's food back in Jamaica. People would sneak out to the beach to get conch at night, when they thought the neighbours wouldn't see them. They wanted to avoid the social stigma.


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## Linda0818

tenspeed said:


> Monkfish is commonly available here, typically around $7.00 / lb.  While the texture is similar to lobster, the flavor isn't.  Lobster is sweeter and more delicate in flavor  I've grilled monkfish with a little EVOO and garlic.  Not bad, but nowhere near as good as lobster.
> 
> Fresh dry scallops are usually in the $15 - $18 / lb. range.  A supermarket had a special early this summer when they were about $10 - $12 / lb. (I can't remember the exact price), but that was for one week only.  I've seen previously frozen scallops for $13 or so.


_Nothing_ is as good as lobster, in my opinion


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## GotGarlic

CraigC said:


> Grouper, especially black and gag are excellent. I love to blacken it, either for a sandwich or with rice pilaf and green vege for a side. If you have had conch since around 1977, it was not from Florida. A 10 year ban was placed on harvesting Queen conch back then and it was made permanent in 1985.


Maybe it came from somewhere in the Caribbean. It was in the early-mid '90s. It didn't occur to me to ask where it came from.

This reminds me, though - my mom had a rental house on Summerland Key for years. We ate a lot of conch fritters, as well as fish, at Monte's Seafood there. The restaurant was built as an extension of the docks where they landed their catch. They also had a small market. Great memories.


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## taxlady

GG, maybe it was conch, but not Queen conch.


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## Addie

Cooking Goddess said:


> *Addie*, I'm going to guess those scallops were older stock that the seafood manager needed to move along. The best price I've seen for dry-pack, fresh scallops at either Market Basket or Price Chopper has been $12.99. This week they're $13.99. Still a better bargain than lobster by a long shot.
> 
> 
> Grouper is Himself's favorite fish. We usually go to FL for a week each year. The first thing he tracks down is a grouper something - sandwich, dinner, nuggets. Loves his grouper!



The most I have ever seen for lobster is $7.99. That was the price last week when I went shopping at MB. I bought myself one. Yummy! But then I am just the Blue Line away from Hook Company on Northern Avenue. You can get a two pound chicken for even less than MB. Hook's has a huge salt water display just as you walk in the door. You can grab (or used to be able to) a long set of tongs and pick out the one you wanted. And the commercial fishermen that dock in Boston, sell their lobster to them. They consider lobsters a trash catch. You cannot store them below deck with the fish, they try to eat them. And those trawlers do not carry elastics or plugs for the claws. The cash they get is divided among the crew. It is called shack money. You don't need or even want to know why.


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## JustJoel

Addie said:


> The most I have ever seen for lobster is $7.99. That was the price last week when I went shopping at MB. I bought myself one. Yummy! But then I am just the Blue Line away from Hook Company on Northern Avenue. You can get a two pound chicken for even less than MB. Hook's has a huge salt water display just as you walk in the door. You can grab (or used to be able to) a long set of tongs and pick out the one you wanted. And the commercial fishermen that dock in Boston, sell their lobster to them. They consider lobsters a trash catch. You cannot store them below deck with the fish, they try to eat them. And those trawlers do not carry elastics or plugs for the claws. The cash they get is divided among the crew. It is called shack money. You don't need or even want to know why.


Jeez, here in Vegas, $7.99 will get you one 4 ounce lobster tail!


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## tenspeed

Addie said:


> The most I have ever seen for lobster is $7.99. That was the price last week when I went shopping at MB. I bought myself one. Yummy! But then I am just the Blue Line away from Hook Company on Northern Avenue. You can get a two pound chicken for even less than MB.


  Chix weigh about a pound, certainly not more than 1-1/4 lb., when they are called quarters.  A 2 lb. lobster is called a select.  Lobsters normally go up in price (per lb.) as they get bigger.  Hard shell lobsters are more expensive than soft shell, as they contain more meat.  

  Prices usually climb in the winter.  I've seen prices over $10 / lb. at times.

  I have not seen different sizes of lobster at Market Basket, and I don't think I have ever bought one there over 1-1/4 lb. (the cheapest size).  I can buy larger lobsters at the local lobster pound.  Halves (1-1/2 lb.) cost a dollar or two more per pound than chix.

https://www.tastelobster.ca/eng_home.php?lang=eng3&page=13


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## Rascal

Our blue cod we get here is the best ever fish IMHO. And is priced accordingly, around $45 kg. I deep fry in beer batter. It's a fave of my guests.

Jj, lobster seems cheap to me, here the equivalent is crayfish and a small one to fed one person would be around $30. In a restaurant $50.

Russ


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## taxlady

tenspeed said:


> Chix weigh about a pound, certainly not more than 1-1/4 lb., when they are called quarters....https://www.tastelobster.ca/eng_home.php?lang=eng3&page=13


That sounds tiny to me. Around here, chickens are usually 1.5-2.5 kg. I'm pretty sure I have served Cornish hens that were over a pound each.


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## JustJoel

taxlady said:


> That sounds tiny to me. Around here, chickens are usually 1.5-2.5 kg. I'm pretty sure I have served Cornish hens that were over a pound each.


I do believe he was talking about lobsters, not fowl, TL. Female lobsters are called hens, and I would imagine, from the text, that either young lobsters or small female lobsters are called chicks.

Please correct me if I’m wrong


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## taxlady

JustJoel said:


> I do believe he was talking about lobsters, not fowl, TL. Female lobsters are called hens, and I would imagine, from the text, that either young lobsters or small female lobsters are called chicks.
> 
> Please correct me if I’m wrong


That would explain it. I had never heard of female lobsters being called hens. I kind of expect some kind of bird for the word hen. I wouldn't have been thrown off as much if there hadn't been mention of chicken in the post that was quoted.


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## RPCookin

Addie said:


> Wow! And again WOW!!! I would have a heart attack looking at those prices. Our scallop fleet is out of New Bedford in SE Mass. Emeril Lagasse home town. One of the delicacies they serve down there is Conch Salad. Stinks to high heaven. Conch is a huge crab type animal in the really large shells you find on the seashore. My second husband used to bring home those shells with the live animal in it. I kept a bucket of bleach outside and he would put the shell in it before I would allow it in the house. The Pirate would take the shell down to the Curio Shop and sell the shell for money for the movies.



As previously mentioned, conch is closely related to snails, and it certainly shouldn't stink.  I became VERY familiar with conch salad during the 2 years I lived in the Bahamas.  I ate it almost weekly, and I miss it here in the Land of no Conch.  Our best friends on the Island own Max's Conch Bar.  Gary started with a piece of plywood across 2 barrels on the side of the highway (he had been making salad informally for years for the crew when he worked as a fisherman).  His original conch salad bar was such a hit that he made it his full time business.  

The current restaurant is still in the same place, just on the opposite side of the Queen's Highway from his original stand.  You can get conch salad, conch fritters, crack conch, along with various other fish and seafood preparations.  Also chicken, and several pork and wild boar dishes, and curry mutton (goat) is often on the menu.  Some of Liz's specialties like pumpkin funny and stuffed breadfruit were also on the menu often.  

A link to Trip Advisor's entry on the Conch Bar:  Max's Conch Bar (The woman sitting at the bar is also a friend from Little Rock Arkansas.  We spent a bit of time with them last month when just happened to be visiting the Island at the same time, and staying at the same villas.)


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## Cooking Goddess

Addie said:


> The most I have ever seen for lobster is $7.99...


But I was talking about the prices for scallops. Even at $12.99, a pound of scallops at that price are a better value than a $7.99 lobster. A one-pound lobster rarely yields even a half pound, so you're paying at least $15.98 for edible lobster. And with scallops, you don't have to work for the meat!


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## CraigC

Addie said:


> No. The sign said "Dry Scallops". I know the difference between them. I never buy wet ones. *I refuse to pay for water. *I never asked my mother what my first solid food was. But I wouldn't be surprised if it was seafood. During WWII, if there were small kids in the family, you would always find them at the beach in the summer, digging clams for meatless days. And after a Nor'easter, it was lobsters also. That's probably why I ended up marrying a  professional fisherman. Seafood is as much a part of my makeup as breathing.



As GG mentioned, wet scallops are chemically treated to retain water. The place we get the dry packed from also carry live diver scallops.



taxlady said:


> Every time I hear about conch I'm reminded of a lady I worked with back in the 1970s. She was from Jamaica and told me that conch was considered poor people's food back in Jamaica. People would sneak out to the beach to get conch at night, when they thought the neighbours wouldn't see them. They wanted to avoid the social stigma.



Back in the late 80's I was sent to Kingston to work on a lobster and conch companies high pressure compressors (5000 psi). One had to be rebuilt. They set me up under a lean-to, next to where they cooked the lobster catch for the Japanese market. I was totally appalled when they started cooking the lobsters as they took everything, including shorts and egg bearing females. At that time they were already working 40 miles off their coast because they had wiped out everything commercially viable in between. 



taxlady said:


> GG, maybe it was conch, but not Queen conch.



It was Queen conch, most likely from the Bahamas. The Bahamians, unlike the Jamaicans, got smart and realized that their fisheries resources were not an unlimited supply. Other conch species, like horse conch, do not exist in quantities to support a commercially viable harvest. There is a tourist trap in Cape Coral, FL called the "Shell Factory". The Queen conch shells they offer come from the Caribbean.


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## Addie

Cooking Goddess said:


> But I was talking about the prices for scallops. Even at $12.99, a pound of scallops at that price are a better value than a $7.99 lobster. A one-pound lobster rarely yields even a half pound, so you're paying at least $15.98 for edible lobster. And with scallops, you don't have to work for the meat!



The cheapest I have ever seen scallops for recently was $9.99 and they were in the shell. I prefer my mollusk seafood in the shell. I also buy any clams in the shell. 

The cost of lobster is well worth it to me. My ultimate shell fish.


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## buckytom

Lobsters generally run about $12 per pound here, more in the winter. They drop to around $6 a pound in early summer when they are soft shelled.

And I'm with you, Addie. Lobster is my ultimate seafood as well. I could eat it every week.


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## Addie

buckytom said:


> Lobsters generally run about $12 per pound here, more in the winter. They drop to around $6 a pound in early summer when they are soft shelled.
> 
> And I'm with you, Addie. Lobster is my ultimate seafood as well. I could eat it every week.



I found quite by accident, that during the summer months, if I buy a lobster alive instead of steamed and then let it sit for a day or two in the fridge, the shell tends to be a bit harder than when I bought it. Lobsters just love the cold. The colder the better. When I do that, I also will put it in the freezer about an hour prior to plunging it in boiling water. They have less kick before plunging it, when you do that.

Only every week? Lobster roll every other day, lobster pie for Sunday, and lobster dipped in melted butter for other days. Or even a lobster salad on special occasions. 

I have also had the privilege of having scallops right out of the shell, (I hate shucking them along with quahogs) of course clams galore, clam chowder made with fresh clams, quahogs, stuffed and chopped for chowder, etc. 

I just love living where I do. Right on the coast of the Atlantic.


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