Spring is here and that means the annual festival of barbecues, parties, picnics and fetes is about to begin. Hooray! Sharing food, especially outside, is how the warmer weather is welcomed around here.
Seafood, spring and celebrations are a match made in heaven. Whether you’re transporting seafood raw to cook at the venue, or taking along a fully-assembled dish you need to keep hot or cold, it’s critical to transport seafood safely.
Find the recipe for Luke Nguyen's spanner crab salad .
Up the 'bring a salad' ante with this spanner crab salad recipe. Source: Alan Benson
Buy as fresh as you can
The first step to packing seafood for a trip is to ensure it’s the best possible quality, to begin with. On , Stephen Hodges, co-author of seafood bible, Australian Fish & Seafood Cookbook, says to use your senses when you buy fish. Smelling a fish for freshness, not ‘fishiness’, is one of many ways to do it, but the appearance of a fish and the way it feels are just as important.
“The first thing you need to know is, [does it] look vibrant?” Hodges says. The colour of the fish will be luminescent, the eyes bright and clear, the surface of the fish will look tight.
Then it’s important to feel the fish, the flesh should bounce back when pressed. Next, gently feel the scales. “[Are] the scales stuck on?” asks Hodges. “You know if you give it a little rub… [if] the scale falls off a fish, she’s old.”
Get to know a good fishmonger, buy seasonal fish and try to buy any seafood on the day you plan to eat it.
Smelling a fish for freshness, not ‘fishiness’, is one many know to do, but the appearance of a fish and the way it feels are just as important.
Best picnic food ever: a prawn baguette with an ice-cold beer. Source: John Laurie
Packing seafood for travel
Fish, whether frozen, raw or cooked, will keep fresh for longer if stored in an airtight container. Take your own container or airtight bag along with you to buy your fish and get your fishmonger to put your purchase straight in and seal it immediately.
When transporting cold, cooked seafood, such as a salad to a party or barbecue venue, an airtight container is also best. The container will keep the food fresh and ensure it doesn’t leak during transport. You can transfer the food to a serving dish after you arrive.
Seafood, spring and celebrations are a match made in heaven.
Taking a hot dish like or is a little trickier, as you don’t want trapped steam to overcook the fish. In this case, keep the food in the serving dish, add a vented lid (a plate works if the dish doesn’t have its own), and wrap tightly in some towels. The towels will absorb the escaping steam while providing insulation to keep the dish hot.
An extra tip for transporting the pie in one piece: put the pie on a baking sheet, invert a roasting tray over the top and tape together before wrapping in towels for insulation.
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Fish head curry
A pie makes an excellent portable fish dish to feed a crowd. Source: Alan Benson
Get the temperature right
A basic, obvious rule of thumb: keep hot seafood hot, cold seafood cold and frozen seafood frozen. Whether you’re moving frozen seafood from the shops, seafood ready to cook at a barbecue, or a pre-made hot or cold seafood dish, getting the temperature right is critical.
The specifies that seafood (classed as a ‘potentially hazardous food’) should be transported at either 5°C or colder or at 60°C or hotter. It’s also important to keep in mind that the inside of than the outside temperature. So, you will absolutely need some form of insulation to keep food at a safe temperature during any trip.
If you need to keep seafood frozen or cold
To keep frozen seafood frozen, it’s best to pack an esky or insulated bag with blocks of ice, not cubes. You can make your own blocks by filling recycled plastic drink containers two-thirds full of water and freezing solid. Pack these in around your frozen seafood. This will be enough to keep seafood frozen until you can get it into a freezer at your destination.
If you don’t have an esky or insulated bag, you can improvise by lining a box with several layers of towels. Pack the towelling in close around your seafood. Packing balls of crumpled newspaper around the package can also do the trick – remember the more layers of newspaper, the more insulation you are providing.
The same techniques can be used to keep either raw or cooked seafood cold for short trips.
Packing balls of crumpled newspaper around the package can also do the trick – remember, the more layers of newspaper, the more insulation you are providing.
A dish like spiced tuna and sticky rice in banana leaf is ideal for transporting hot. The banana leaves provide the first necessary layer of insulation. Source: China Squirrel
If you need to keep seafood hot
If you’ve pre-made a special dish that you need to take along, heat it to slightly hotter than the temperature you will serve the dish at (at least 60°C). Pack the food into an airtight glass container, wrap it with a few layers of foil, then wrap the container in a layer or two of towels, and finally place the container into an insulated bag. The towel layers will help keep the dish hot and protect the glass while you travel.
Bite-size dishes
Unless you're the steadiest driver in town, a tray of seafood appetisers is always best assembled at the venue, rather than in advance.
Find the recipe for these scallops .
Appetisers like these scallops with brown butter sauce are best assembled in situ. Source: Alan Benson
Pack each of the elements following the guide above. If you absolutely must put the tray together before you leave home, these tips for transporting will help:
- Assemble the dish on your serving tray then wrap tightly in plastic wrap all around the tray - the wrap should keep all the elements together. Continuing the wrap around the base of the tray will help stop the tray from sliding around during transit.
- If you don't have an esky big enough to take the serving tray, try the box method. Put the tray inside a box then cover with scrunched up newspaper, then wrap the box in a couple of thick towels. This will work for both hot and cold dishes.
- Serve immediately on arrival if the dish is hot. If the dish is cold, either serve immediately or put the tray straight into the fridge.
Of course, the tips here work for any food you need to move, not just seafood. Safe preparation and transportation of any meal will keep everyone healthy and happy.
