So here is Raie au Beurre Noir Oriental
First catch your skate
Skin it, reserve the liver and roe, make two nice skate wings.
Heat some butter in a good large pan; add skin, bones, 1 onion, 1 carrot, both diced, 3 heads of crushed garlic, black pepper and a bunch of coriander leaves. Brown and add a litre of fish stock. Simmer for 30 to 40 minutes. Add some white wine and lemon juice. Reduce to 250 or so mll.
Steam or boil 500g of potatoes.
You then need a knob of butter, 250g bunch of straw mushrooms, a few small hot chilis, some slivers of ginger and plenty more garlic.
Cook these ingredients in the butter until just tender
Put a further decent knob of butter in a large pan. Cook the skate wings-one at a time or together, depending on your pan. Cook slowly at first then, when the wings are nearly cooked-say 10 minutes-increase the heat so the bits that have accumulated in the pan are crisped.
Remove the skate wings to a serving dish
Add to the pan a cup of the fish stock; reduce to a couple of tablespoonfuls, then add a good dash of vinegar-balsamic or red wine according to preference and a large spoonful of chopped cornichons and deglaze the pan. Pour over the skate. Serve the skates dressed with a little garnish of herb leaves and the potatoes with the mushroom/liver/roe sauce.
Best eaten somewhere like Honfleur or Dieppe with a good Cidre Normande. There was a time when you could buy what passed for cider here ie Strongbow. But it has gone. The best I could do, which actually was not such a batty idea, was a can of ice cold Guinness! Not quite like decent bread, Guinness and Oysters in Galway..but not too bad!
