Pollack has become one of Britain's best-selling fish  Photo: ANDREW CROWLEY

By Stephen Adams Pollack, the fish with such a poor reputation that Sainsbury’s deemed it needed a name change, has become one of the country’s most popular seafoods. Figures released by Seafish, set up by the Government to promote the fishing industry, show it is now the eighth most popular fish to eat. British consumers bought more than 13,000 tons of it last year, outselling both scampi (5,700 tons) and trout (4,400 tons) combined. Pollack’s off-white flesh has traditionally been considered so unappetising as to be fit only for the cat, hence the saying “pollack for puss, coley for cat”. … But the rising cost of over-fished Atlantic cod, and tightening purse strings in the recession, have combined to raise pollack’s popularity among British shoppers. …

Pollack becomes one of Britain’s most popular fish