"Sqwertz" > wrote in message
...
> On Fri, 21 Aug 2009 15:25:18 +0100, john royce wrote:
>
>> Yesterday we bought some wet fish from Morrisons,
>
> "Wet fish"? Does this just mean "fresh fish"? Not trying to be a
> wiseass [for a change], I've just never heard the term before.
>
>> 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.
>
> Cartilaginous fish often smell mildly of ammonia even when raw and
> fresh. It's gets worse as they deteriorate. Yours had gone bad,
> and then some. You should not be able to smell or taste it after
> cooking.
>
>

The ammonia odor has nothing to do with freshness. The kidneys of
cartilaginous fish discharge directly into their circulatory system. Upon
catching they need to be properly bled immediately or they're ruined.