Why are foods that come from a certain area considered more desirable to eat in that area, than the foods from that same area that are shipped in to another state?
One time my ex and I visited my Mom, in Washington. She had arranged for a charter fishing boat some place in Oregon. We each quickly caught our limit of salmon (2 each.)
I can’t remember the details…it was 35 years ago, but to make a long story short, the folks hosted the fishing trip instructed us to pack it in dry ice…or maybe they packed it for us….and it flew home on the plane with us.
I don’t know how many days later we thawed it out and invited some friends over for a grill and it was soooooo good! So good.
The only thing I think could have been better is if we’d caught it that day and cooked it that same night. But would that have made any difference really?
For several years after my mom moved “home” to Seattle, when my sisters and I were still teenagers, she was always trying to lure us up there too. My mom listened to my comments about how good it was, and said, “You don’t get anything like that in Kansas!”
I said…“Um, do they have fresh, frozen salmon at the grocery stores there in Puyallup, and is it good?”
She said “Of course! It’s wonderful!”
I said, “What’s the difference between fresh frozen salmon in the grocery stores there, and in the grocery stores here? They probably catch them, freeze them and send them out. They probably get to the stores here faster than we got ours home. ”
She said, “Oh Val! You just ruined it!”
So what’s the difference?
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19 Answers
There’s a generally accepted standard that fresh (unfrozen) tastes better than frozen and then thawed, regardless of the item. My palate is not sensitive enough to tell the difference in many cases, but I suppose it makes sense if you consider the tissue damage on a molecular level that occurs in the freezing process.
The locovore movement focuses not only on freshness, but the regional difference in flavors based on soil conditions, weather, etc., and even more importantly on the minimized impact on the environment of materials to ship, fuel to transport, and so on.
I agree. Fresh fish probably tastes better. But, in the case of the discussion with my mother, I was focusing on frozen salmon in a Seattle grocery store, and frozen salmon in a Kansas grocery store. (I didn’t make that quite clear in the question. Sorry.)
To some people, a time difference is important. The Kansas frozen fish is “older” than the Seattle frozen fish.
I tried a taste test last week between frozen and fresh and could not detect any difference. I also tried to taste any difference between the Soho and the Atlantic. I cannot taste any difference.
It could also be a holdover from the days that your mom was much younger, and freezing and transport were much less efficient. The quality of the food was definitely affected. When I was a child, the quality of the food that was imported from far away states was much poorer than it is today.
If it’s frozen right away and shipped, there is no difference. The thing is, on the coasts they get fresh seafood, and fresh really is the big difference, but a lot of seafood, even on the coasts, is packed in ice for a while before making it to the kitchen to be filleted.
I think the idea you are talking about is a holdover from the days when the middle of the country didn’t eat or prepare much ocean fish. It wasn’t easy to come by a great seafood restaurant, there certainly wasn’t a bunch of them, out in the middle of the Midwest and West. People there didn’t have the taste for it either, so it was sort of a chicken and egg thing. More and more everything is everywhere, and people everywhere like everything.
To add to @syz‘s point, locavore’s prefer food from with a 100-mile radius of their location.
I try to buy local myself. In season local is usually best. If it’s a small farm I like supporting the local farmers.
If you want ocean salmon you can’t get it local in Kansas. It’s not like eating strawberries in season in Kansas.
Chilean Sea Bass in California is no better or worse than it is in Overland Park KS, and I cannot even say the chef here in CA is any better.
I don’t think anyone can really tell the difference between frozen salmon bought at a Safeway in Renton WA and frozen salmon bought in Topeka. The difference in location is that one can go down to Pike Place market and buy some fresh salmon that came off the boat that morning.
@cookieman I have a feeling that the commercial fisherman freeze ALL the salmon they catch, ASAP, so what does it matter if it’s going 10 miles or 1000 miles?
@JLeslie If you want ocean salmon you can’t get it local in Kansas. It’s not like eating strawberries in season in Kansas.” What?
Pikes Place Market is the coolest place ever. Here is my two youngest kids eating Dungeness crab at Pikes Place. We walked around all over, then popped into some open air cafe and they served us what we consider a huge delicacy, in a container more like what you’d get a burger and fries here.
“I don’t think we’re in Kansas any more Toto!”
@Dutchess_III: I agree, but that’s part of the locavore guidelines. I think it’s a better rule of thumb for produce.
That being said, one thing no one likes to consider is the idea of only eating the stuff that is within a 100 miles of you. Sure it limits your options, but at least you are only eating what is in season at its freshest possible state.
So, near me (New England) I’ll have cod, lobster, and scallops — but no salmon. I can get strawberries in June, corn in July, tomatoes in August, apples and stone fruit in September, and squash in October. In February, I’m out of luck on produce.
Is that okay? Can we live with that if “eating local” is that important to you?
If not, than I think we have to trust that the freezing and shipping systems are better than they were years ago and use common sense when choosing what we eat.
(I don’t know what lacavore is. Googling.) Oh, OK. Count me out. I want my crabs and seafood. I detest catfish and squirrel. And woman can not live on lettuce and potatoes alone. Gimme apples and bananas and oranges!
Oh, and sure it’s OK to eat only locally, if that’s your preference. People have been thriving for thousands of years eating only what is grown, or hunted “locally”, although in the days before motorized transport I don’t know that 50 miles would be considered “local.”
@Dutchess_III Pikes Place Kansas?
When I eat fresh fish in Clearwater it often is caught that morning. You can’t get Alaskan Salmon or Gulf water Grouper in Kansas caught that morning very easily. You do have sushi grade fish in sure in Kansas now, maybe you get it fresh by that evening or the next day. Still very fresh.
No. Pikes Place Market in Seattle @JLeslie.
May I ask why you keep trying to drive home the fact that one can not catch salmon in Kansas? Are you trying to tell me that I’ve just been wasting my time out at the lake all of these years?
The discussion is about frozen fish. Not fresh fish.
@Dutchess_III I said you can’t get fresh ocean salmon in Kansas, but if it’s frozen where it’s caught and shipped, it’s exactly the same in Seattle as Kansas.
I said I think the idea that you can’t get good ocean fish in states in the interior is a holdover from the past, or because people are thinking about fresh vs. frozen, which is not what you are talking about. It’s what is in their heads.
I know Pikes Place Market in Seattle, I’ve been there.
Basically, I’ve been agreeing with you all along.
OK. I just didn’t quite understand why you kept saying, over and over, that I can’t buy fresh-caught salmon in Kansas.
Also, you asked me if I was referring to “Pikes Place Kansas?”
Just making sure we were on the same page.
^^You mentioned Pikes Place being the coolest place ever, and it seemed like you were saying there are cool places for fish in Kansas too. I wasn’t sure what you were getting at when you said it.
As far as I know, there is only one Pike’s Place in the US. I could be wrong, though.
That’s what I thought too. That’s why I asked if there was one in Kansas when I was confused. You never know.
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