Heavens... I thought mackerel was cheap!!!

[loveyouradvice]

Asked my DH to pick up some mackerel at the market today, thinking I need to eat some oily fish that isn't expensive... and it cost £11!!!!!

Bit bowled over... thought it might be a fiver for a nice large fish.

It was delicious and lots of it, but think it might be back to frozen mackerel and tinned sardines for a while....

That’s bonkers.

I saw somebody mentioning a fish delivery box on here earlier. Maybe worth a try.

What for just one fish

well if you want a "nice large fish" thats what its going to cost you, why do you think you should get one cheap.
otherwise buy the portions for £4

Fish has pretty much doubled in price in the past couple of years. Apparently due to a shortage of fish and an increase in demand around the world.

I think I've not noticed ... the doubling that is.... I've always thought most fish was expensive apart from mackerel, sardines, coley nad kippers!!

And looking at Sainsbury's and Ocado they do seem to have fresh mackerel at much more reasonable prices... going to try them as £11 is mad - for that I want to feel I'm eating a luxurious meal!!

Also going to see what frozen mackerel tastes like cooked - I use it in sauces regularly but not done a pan-fry.

@loveyouradvice Can you tell me where you get frozen mackerel, please?

How much a kilo though?

I pay £12 a kilo for trout fresh from the lake if you have one near you it's a great option - you call ahead and the guy who runs it fishes one for you!

frozen mackerel - quite a fair few supermarkets... definitely ocado but I see they also have fresh at about half the price we paid in the market! Going to be experimenting to see the difference now

sadly no fresh trout near us but LOVE that idea!!

The price of fish like most food has gone up considerably. I used to buy tinned own brand mackerel for something like 40-50p. The next best and usually slightly cheaper are sardines/pilchards but own brand of all these cheaper oily fish have started disappearing leaving the more expensive Portuguese and other branded.

You probably already know, but when you buy tinned look out for the net (drained weight) as opposed to the total weight (which includes any liquid/sauces). It's common for there to be a difference and the price per Kg may be on the total weight which makes it look like you are getting more fish than you actually are.

Fresh mackerel is £6.20 p/Kg in Waitrose. If you buy on a Friday with a MyWaitrose card you can get another 20% off.

This is a good opportunity to ask whether anyone has noticed how un-oily mackerel is now? As someone who really goes for oily fish I find it's really bland and lacking in natural oils now no matter what time of year I buy it. A long while ago it used to be so oily it used to make me burp. I can't really tell whether the tinned stuff has changed because it has been cooked to mealy destruction in most cases. Anyone got any ideas?

It is if you catch your own! DH and I went fishing last week and have a freezer full of mackerel. Difficult if you don't live near the sea, though.

Hey hey - I remember catching masses of mackerel as a teenager from the sea - seriously fun and exciting and delicious

Thanks for top Waitrose tip - we will do that.

And tinned sardines - which I love in so many things - are getting to be eaten more often!!