Less than seven hours off the fishing boat, the Atlantic haddock makes it into the frying pan at a Boston restaurant. Here's how the process works.
How fast does it really take for fish to go from the sea to your plate?
Inside Edition followed fresh Atlantic haddock as it made its way through the cleaning and preparation process, and finally, to a restaurant where it was served to hungry patrons.
The day started at 6 a.m. in Boston Harbor. The crew aboard the America unloaded the haddock caught from the Gulf of Maine in a process overseen by Captain Tory Bramante.
“We put them down in the fish hold, all cleaned and washed, and we put a layer of ice, a layer of fish,” Bramante said.
On this particular morning, Chef Matt King, chief culinary officer at Legal Sea Foods, was there to personally inspect the catch. The East Coast fish chain’s slogan is “If it isn’t fresh, it isn’t legal!”
“We’re looking for a fish here that’s got really clear eyes, super bright red gills, so it’s really fresh,” King said.
The fish then gets packed back on ice and sent over to their partners at North Coast Seafood for inspection and processing.
The fish that was selected and tagged earlier is cleaned and carefully filleted.
Less than seven hours from the boat, the fish makes it into the frying pan at the Legal Sea Foods kitchen in Boston.
After a quick inspection, Chef Patrick began to prepare the catch of the day, pan-seared with a butter crumb crust.
The result: the restaurant's signature dish of baked haddock a la Anna. Delicious!
