When I slip a piece of pinkly translucent cod into the foaming butter in my frying pan, I like to imagine that the fish was still swimming around in the chilly sea just hours ago.
Ideally, it would have been hauled out of the water yesterday, or possibly even the small hours of today, put on ice immediately and then whisked with all due dispatch to my fishmonger's counter.
However, it seems that when it comes to the "fresh" fish sold in supermarkets, my fantasy is, sadly, just that — a fantasy.
Most people would accept that fish can have been out of the water for one, two, maybe three days and still be fresh — but how about fish caught almost three weeks ago? Astonishingly, such fish is being sold as fresh in our supermarkets.
It may not be "off" exactly, or toxic, but it is certainly in the fading twilight of its sellable life.
