temperature too quickly, you lose too much internal moisture and the result is a drier piece of

seafood on your plate, no matter how carefully you cook it.

You can freeze fresh or leftover cooked extra seafood, though you cannot duplicate the

speed of commercial freezing so essential for good flavor and moist meat. The trick is too freeze

it as quickly as you can to minimize damage to the cells that hold moisture within the meat. The

worst way to freeze is to wrap up a large piece of fish and place it in the freezer. It may take half

a day or more before the center part is frozen, that is much too slow. Slow freezing causes large

ice crystals to form inside the meat, the crystals pierce the cells, and when you defrost it, the

cells leak their liquid.

Here are some suggestions:

If you want to keep a large fish whole, place it unwrapped on a metal baking sheet and

put it in the freezer. It freezes faster without the wrapping. Wrap it after it freezes solid.

A still better way is to cut the fish up into steaks, fillets or chunks and place the pieces

side by side on a metal baking sheet so they freeze rapidly, then wrap.

Set your timer so you'll remember to check the progress periodically. When wrapping,

attempt to eliminate as much air as possible, label it and put it back into the freezer.

Ice glazing is an excellent method that eliminates damaging air pockets (inevitable in any

packaging) and keeps the seafood from drying out in storage. To ice glaze, prepare a pan of ice

water. Freeze the seafood the way I suggested and as soon as it is solid, dip it into the ice water

for a few second until a layer of ice coats each piece. Put the pieces back in the freezer for 15

minutes then repeat ice glazing. Then wrap, label and store it in the freezer. If you defrost this

slowly, it will be almost like fresh.

You cannot successfully freeze all fresh seafood. As a rule, the fattier the meat, the less

amenable it is to freezing. Your chances are better with lean species. Nearly all shellfish freeze

well, too. Lobster, crab and crayfish meat must be blanched before freezing to preserve their

texture and flavor.

The longer you keep seafood in the freezer, the more flavor you lose. Provided it is well-

wrapped, and your home freezer's temperature is 0°F (-18°C) (typical for a good home freezer),

you can keep frozen seafood up to a year. But if your freezer is just ten degrees warmer, 10°F (-

2°C) don't keep seafood frozen for more than two months. If you happen to live on the north

slope of the Arctic at an average temperature of -40°F (-40°C) you can store seafood indefinitely.

Check your freezer's temperature with an accurate thermometer and date every package you put

into it.

How to Turn out the Best Seafood in Town

Fish and shellfish are suitable for every cooking method known to mankind, and it is one

of the only meats left that is still reasonably safe to serve raw, as in Japanese sushi and sashimi

or oysters and clams on the half shell. Some people even eat abalone raw. Of course, you cannot

successfully prepare every type of fish with every cooking method. For the best results, you need

to match the two. Fatty fish is great for smoking and for any dry-heat cooking method,

particularly those that need little or no oil. Lean fish is better cooked moist, but sautéing lean fish

in oil or butter is a good choice, too.

While one of the easiest and quickest meals to prepare, seafood is the least forgiving.

Most fish and shellfish toughen when you overcook it, the meat fibers contract and lose their

moisture. But with continued cooking, the tightened fibers relax and reabsorb flavorful moisture

Serious Kitchen Play