De pending on where you live, there should be a wide variety of seafood available in the your local market - from the superb tropical barramundi and coral trout to delicate tasting whiting, garfish, bream and jewfish in the cooler oceans. I live in Australia. It is very easy to find many different fish coming from New Zealand waters. New Zealand waters are very rich in seafood and have many varieties of fish that are very excellent for eating. In the southern waters off Australia, there are several species of flounder.

For the same fish, sometimes it may come with different names between both countries as well as from state to state within Australia. For cooking purpose, there are two types of fish - freshwater fish and saltwater fish. These can be further roughly divided into fish that have white flesh and fish that are oily. The main difference is that the oil in white or lean fish is mainly concentrated in the liver while in oily fish the oil is distributed throughout the flesh. This is why many people believe that oily fish are more nutritious though higher in kilojoules.

The following list will give you an idea of what type of fish to buy.

Freshwater. The best freshwater oily fish for grilling, baking and poaching are Atlantic salmon and rainbow trout. Murray cod and perch are more delicate white fish, very suitable for sauteing, poaching and steaming.

Oily. It is the best choice of fish for grilling, barbecuing, and baking. The oiliness varies between fish - normally the darker the flesh, the greater the fat content. The most popular oily fish are Atlantic salmon, rainbow trout, mackerel (silver, white or skipjack), mullet (red or grey), tuna (southern blue fin)

White. It I a good choice for sauteing, stir-frying, deep-frying, steaming or poaching. Just be aware that if you want to bake or grill, white fish needs to be protected from drying out by basting or stuffing.

The most popular and common freshwater fish are lemon sole and flounder, gemfish, ocean perch, snapper, coral trout, barramundi, blue-eye or blue-nose cod, red fish, red emperor, cod, bream, whiting and garfish.

You can also ask your fishmonger for advice on the best fish for a particular recipe or style of cooking, or the best fish to eat that day. With the knowledge of the basic type of fish, you will be able to choose the best fish to your serving.