john royce wrote:
> Yesterday we bought some wet fish from Morrisons, (fresh ray wings)
> and it said on the packet use by 21 august which is today. (I know
> that's cutting the time window a bit fine) Also there was a sticker
> on it saying prepared in this store, which i guess might mean it was
> transferred from the fish counter into a packet and then placed on
> the shelves,
> It tasted and smelt of ammonia and it was too awful to eat. I've
> heard of dodgy meat departments rinsing old meat in a dilute bleach
> solution to freshen it up.
>
> Is it possible a similar thing is being done with fish would you
> guess? But someone got the dilution rate wrong. Or is the ammonia
> always
> part of a too old fish smell and taste ?

The ammonia smell/taste is characteristic of skate which is not fresh.
I suggest you tell the store. I do not like to buy packaged fish -
buy it fresh, ask for a sniff test and if it doesn't smell fresh and
sweet don't buy it. In the case of a whole fish, check the eyes. If
they're sunken and dull, don't buy it.