Can you tell the difference between fresh fish and fish that has been frozen? The instinctive reaction is to say ‘absolutely’.
But guess what? Coretext director and seafood gourmand Brad Collis had to fess up to not being able to pick any difference when he joined a taste test at the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (DAF) that is part of a research project into this very question.
He was somewhat mollified to learn that some well-known seafood chefs also struggled to tell the difference.
There are important factors such as the fish species in question and the freezing and thawing process, which must be done correctly to maintain the quality of the product.
Brad is pictured at the DAF labs where the triangular taste tests were run by Professor Sue Poole and Philippa Tyler on behalf of the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC).
Red lights in the tasting booths are used to remove any visual bias in taste tests.
Brad’s report on the research features in the March 2019 edition of FISH magazine.