March 2016 - Page 2 of 2

Ever thought about this? Fish is the only food that starts to smell like itself when it’s going off. And yes, that can make it hard to gauge whether your salmon is still fresh or needs to be chucked. More often than not people don’t want to take the risk, so half our seafood supply ends up uneaten and thrown out.

eb0364c34384fad29087efd362895031 e1456357980484 How do I know when my seafood is off? — Image via Gourmet Traveller

I chatted to my mate and seafood expert, Costa Nemitsas from Southern Fresh Seafood, about when seafood actually needs to be chucked and what you can do to make it last longer. Over to you, Costa!

Raw fish

*A whole fish keeps for up to 12 days. Assuming it’s fresh and stored at 0 degrees. (Note: If a fish is kept at 4 degrees, it’s life span is reduced by half.)

*A fillet of oily fish keeps for up to 5 days. The best way to keep fillet fish is to separate the fillets via plastic sheets or wax paper.

*A fillet of non-oily fish keeps for 3-4 days. The thing to look out for here is whether the fish has turned slimy. Keep it until it does!

Cooked fish

All cooked fish – including crumbed, battered, fried, grilled, roasted – lasts for 3 days in the fridge.

I took seven years to complete my BA. I was about five years older than all the other cadets when I did my official journalism training, taking a pay cut just for fun. I got my first gig on telly at 35 – when most women are giving up the screen. And I only found my “dharma” – what I’m doing now – a few years back, in my late 30s. I’ve been behind the 8-ball the whole way.

late creative bloomer Sarah Wilson — Image via Freunde von Freunden

And, yep, I’ve fretted that a whole bunch of ships had left the dock without me. I guess, then, I’ve always looked out for tales of successful creatives who also took the long route.

I’ve written about how Leonard Cohen took more than 5 years to write ‘Hallelujah’.

And Bruce Springsteen 6 months to write one of my favourite songs ever, Born to Run.

Ira Glass’ career as a journalist only flourished after 17 years.

And Steve Jobs took 10 years to buy a couch (I took 32).

Recently I learned Kate Grenville did 22 drafts of Secret River. (When I ask her about it, she says: “Good things take time!”)

And Mark Twain fiddled and despaired and revised and gave up on “Huckleberry Finn” so many times that the book took him nearly a decade to complete.