# Cooking and Cleaning Skates



## Advisor (Jan 12, 2003)

Since there seems to be an abundance of skates caught and many question whether they are edible or not, I found this to help.

***Skate is a hidden treasure. It is an absolute delicacy if prepared correctly. If you don't believe me, have it at any of the best resturaunts in Boston - Olives, Brasserie Jo, Aquataine, Hammersley's ... they all serve skate, at $25 bucks a plate to boot. 

The trick is in the care as soon as it comes into the boat. If you plan on eating it, kill the critter immediately by pushing a large knife beteen the eyes and put it on ice in the cooler right away. If you're squimish about this, just skip the death blow and pack the body under ice. They die pretty quickly out of water anyhow. 

When you get home, use a large very sharp knife or cleaver to slice off the wings very close to the body. Then, holding the wing in your hand, imagine an empty pita pocket and using a smaller sharp knife (like a fillet knife) carefully cut away the meat from the rough skin —— almost as though you were cutting away the inside of the pita pocket. Try to keep the knife as close the skin as possible. After this, the hard part is done. What you'll be left with is a hunk of meat a little bit larger than your hand (depending on the size of the beast). There is a stip of cartilige in the middle of this, but the boneless meat will fillet off of this very easily. 
Cooking - sautee a few diced shallots in some fine olive oil over medium heat. Don't use too much oil, just a couple of spoonfulls. Toss in some copped fresh rosmary. When the oil is warm (the shallots will have turned slightly translucent) lay in the skate. Keep your eyes glued to it, because it will cook VERY QUICKLY. Flip it very gently after about a minute and a half to two minutes or so. Cheat by lifting it up with the spatuala and flip it when it has started to brown on the bottom. It will need about 5-6 minutes total depending on the thickness of the fillet. DO NOT OVERCOOK - that is the only way you could screw it up. 
When it is brown, put it on a plate, and put sea salt, lemon, and a spoonfull of capers on it. Parsley is optional. That is all that it needs!! Serve it with a salad (I prefer a watercress salad for skate, but suit yourself) and either a good white wine or microbrew. I think it goes well with a wheat beer, but that's just my opinion. 
I promise you will love it. It is one of the most delicate, sweetest fish you can have. But you must cook it the day that you catch it — it doesn't last long at all. *******


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## jjaachapa (Aug 7, 2004)

Never have tryed it myself but this is intersting.
Chapa
http://www.corpusfishing.com/ray.htm


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## Otter (Jun 18, 2004)

I had lunch at The Oceanaire dowtown last Thursday, and they had it on the menu. My favorite place for seafood coincidently, long as I'm not buying


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