Chemical and Organoleptic Comparison of Fish Sauce Made from Cold Water Species and Typical Thai Fish Sauce

Abstract

ABSTRACT Organoleptic and chemical properties of fish sauce made experimentally from the four cold water fish species–Arctic capelin, Atlantic herring, Atlantic cod and blue whiting–were compared with three first grade commercial fish sauces made from tropical anchovies. Although the flavor of the fish sauces made from cold water species were judged as inferior to the flavor of the tropical fish sauces, the blue whiting and Atlantic herring sauces obtained fair ranking. Chemical analyses revealed that sugar had been added in all the three commercial sauces. Although sugar is added during blending just before bottling, flavor enhancing chemical reactions, between amino groups and reducing sugars, probably occur during storage of the final product. Accordingly, this procedure should be adapted also in preparation of fish sauce from cold water species.