We went to an island for a trip to explore local fish markets. This place is mainly exporting fish. We managed to get one of the best smoked fish (tuna, mackeral etc) from their local markets. This is different from smoked salmon and rather very hard in texture.
Just before the flight we packed them with original plastic bag (no ziploc) into a packaging box and taped it – put in the dedicated luggage. That was it.
This all led to a very painful experience just now. However, after coming back from nearly 8 hours of flight + another 2 hours, we opened the box and dropped dead to find the dust type fungas layer on all the fishes. It has become slightly moist.
Next time around I want to take precautions and have disaster management; how can I best store smoked fish when traveling? What sort of packaging material should be used?
Best Answer
Are you sure it was fungus, if it was just a dust? I don't know what else it would be, but 8 hours seems short for that to grow.
In any case. Keep it very dry, perhaps by wrapping in parchment or muslin and packing in rock salt before sealing all in plastic. Cool it with ice, sealed in a separate plastic bag, or preferably gel freezer packs, also separate.
I've never been in that situation, so I can't say I've tested this advice.