Seafood Handbook Glossary

Glossary of seafood terms from Seafood Handbook: The comprehensive guide to SOURCING, BUYING and PREPARATION, brought to you by the editors of SeaFood Business magazine. Browse terms below and be sure to explore the Seafood Handbook »

Items found: 8

Gaping

The separation of the individual flakes of meat in a fillet. Gaping can be a natural feature of the fish flesh or a result of poor handling. Also refers to the opened shell of live shellfish. Severe gaping indicates the animal is dead and that the shellfish should not be eaten.

Gel Pack

A coolant package filled with a combination of water and a gel–type material used for shipping seafood. Coolants are often dyed blue so any leakage is obvious.

Glazed

Indicates fish has been dipped in water after freezing. Ice forms a glaze around the fish or meat, protect­ing it from damage by freezer burn. Fish or shellfish may be “reglazed,” or “double–glazed” to ensure adequate protection.

Grading

A term for incremen­tal measurement of seafood products, such as counts per pound of shrimp or weight range of fillets.

Gravlax

Fillets of salmon rubbed with a mixture of coarse salt, sugar and white pepper, placed meat side against meat–side with mustard and dill and pressed with weights in a chilled environment for at least 24 hours.

Green Headless

Raw, heads–off, unshelled shrimp; does not indicate actual color.

Greening

A rare condition affecting shrimp, caused by thermal abuse and/or contaminants in the breading.

Gutted

Fully eviscerated.