How long will our fish last in the refrigerator? Some fish and seafood may last longer, but we guarantee the items in our counter for 3 days. In general, a fish can keep up to two weeks from the day it’s caught if properly refrigerated below 38 degrees for the entire time. Here at Holiday Market, we never keep fish that long. We sell a lot of fish, and get several deliveries 6 days a week, we guarantee our fish and seafood for 3 days (including the day of purchase). We go over our stock daily to make sure we have the freshest fish possible and discard any fish that we think won’t last 3 days. So if you buy a fish Monday morning it will be guaranteed fresh until Wednesday evening.
Do your Scallops contain any water or preservatives? No! We carry only dry packed Scallops. Dry packed means no added water and no added preservatives. We believe that The Dry packed Scallops taste much better and that’s why we only carry dry scallops. Most Scallops are treated with a water and sodium solution that preserves the scallops longer but this means it can absorb up to 25% of its weight in water. Thus “wet” scallops will be much cheaper as they are filled with extra water weight. This water dilutes the flavor and leaks out when cooking.
I have heard that farm raised fish are bad for you. Is this true? This is one of the biggest misconceptions about fish. Although there are some farms with lower standards, in reality, there are many farms with extremely high standards that produce high quality, sustainable and healthy fish. In fact, in many cases, the farm raised fish are better than their wild counterparts. For example, wild Catfish are bottom eaters that eat just about anything. They also thrive in polluted areas. But, farm raised Catfish are raised in cleaner water, with selective floating feed. Here at Holiday, we are very careful to avoid farmed fish from the “bad farms”. For example, 70-80% of the Tilapia consumed in the USA is farmed in China. We do not carry any farmed raised fish from China. There have been many negative reports about farmed Tilapia from China. Although all farms in China are not bad, we avoid fish from China to ensure our catch is of the highest quality. Our Tilapia comes from one of the most respected farms in the industry (Rainforest Farm is Costa Rica).
Do you stock whole fish? On occasion we do have some whole fish, but we do not stock whole fish on a regular basis. However, we can special order any whole fish that is available and have it for you the next day.
What is the difference in flavor between all the different Salmon you carry? The wild caught Salmons (King, Keta, Coho, and Sockeye) have a richer, more robust flavor and are also full of healthy Omega 3’s. The King Salmon is the mildest of the wild Salmons and has the healthiest fats. It is considered the best eating of all the wild Salmons, followed by the Sockeye (Rich flavor, leaner than other Salmons, bright red color), Coho and Keta. The farm raised Atlantic Salmons have a milder flavor, are moist and high in healthy Omega 3’s. We carry two farm raised Atlantic Salmons (Canadian and Faroe Island). These two Salmons taste fairly similar, although the Faroe is raised with a higher grade of feed which gives it even more healthy fats and a moister texture. The Faroe Salmon is a very high-end Atlantic salmon with no hormones and no antibiotics.
When are the wild Salmons available fresh? These delicious fish are in season fresh for only a few months. • Sockeye Salmon season: mid-to-late May to mid-September • Coho Salmon season: late-June to late-October • King Salmon season: May to October is the peak season, but it is available year round Wild caught Salmon is available all year because after the season is over we still carry Sockeye and sometimes Cohos that were previously frozen. The farm raised Salmons are available fresh year round.
How many varieties of fish do you carry? We stock from 20 to 30 species of fish every day. Usually we have a few more species at the beginning of the weekend.
Do you skin fish fillets? Yes, we not only skin fish, but cut and prepare your fish however you like it.
Do you special order fish? We carry one of the largest selections of fresh fish in Michigan. But, if we don’t have the type you are looking for, we will make every attempt to special order it for you. In most cases, if the fish is available, we can have it for you the next day. Usually, there is no minimum order required. This is on a fish-by-fish basis.
Do you carry wild caught shrimp? Yes, we carry a large variety of raw wild shrimp as well as farm raised shrimp. We also have our signature cooked wild Campeche Shrimp from the Gulf of Mexico, that we prepare in-house.