In this story
A Spanish Michelin-trained chef in Singapore told us fresh fish isn’t always better. We sat down with him in person to talk about conservas, expecting the usual pitch about tradition and craft. Instead he spent the first ten minutes taking apart an assumption most people never think to question.
The Myth
Fresh is always the higher-quality choice. It’s the rule behind most seafood marketing, and the first thing he pushed back on. His point wasn’t that fresh fish is bad. It’s that “fresh” describes a state, not a guarantee, and the state depends entirely on timing you can’t see from behind a fish counter.
His Logic
Fish destined for conservas is caught at peak season, when it’s fattest and in the best condition it will be all year.
Not whenever a boat happens to land with whatever the nets picked up that day.
Timing is the variable that decides quality, and it’s the one a conservas producer controls and a fish counter can’t. A boat that lands in November sells whatever came up in November. A canner works around the calendar, not the tide.
The Process
Once the catch comes in, tinning happens within hours. That speed is what seals the fish at its exact point of quality, oils and all, instead of letting it sit on ice for days while it waits for a buyer, a truck, and a plane.
The Reality
Fresh fish sold off-season, or fish that’s spent days in transit, has usually already passed its peak by the time it reaches a plate. It still looks fresh. The clock just started before you bought it.
Try It Yourself
Shop the range at theportsidemarket.com or find us at any of our stockists.