SKATE, Boiled.
Ingredients.—¼ lb. of salt to each gallon of water. Mode.—Cleanse and skin the skate, lay it in a fish-kettle, with sufficient water to cover it, salted in the above proportion. Let it simmer very gently till done; then dish it on a hot napkin, and serve with shrimp, lobster, or caper sauce. Time.—According to size, from ½ to 1 hour. Average cost, 4d. per lb. Seasonable from August to April.
SKATE, Crimped.
Ingredients.—½ lb. of salt to each gallon of water. Mode.—Clean, skin, and cut the fish into slices, which roll and tie round with string. Have ready some water highly salted, put in the fish, and boil till it is done. Drain well, remove the string, dish on a hot napkin, and serve with the same sauces as above. Skate should never be eaten out of season, as it is liable to produce diarrhœa and other diseases. It may be dished without a napkin, and the sauce poured over. Time.—About 20 minutes. Average cost, 4d. per lb. Seasonable from August to April.
SKATE, With Caper Sauce (à la Française).
Ingredients.—2 or 3 slices of skate, ½ pint of vinegar, 2 oz. of salt, ½ teaspoonful of pepper, 1 sliced onion, a small bunch of parsley, 2 bay-leaves, 2 or 3 sprigs of thyme, sufficient water to cover the fish. Mode.—Put in a fish-kettle all the above ingredients, and simmer the skate in them till tender. When it is done, skin it neatly, and pour over it some of the liquor in which it has been boiling. Drain it, put it on a hot dish, pour over it caper sauce, and send some of the latter to table in a tureen. Time.—½ hour. Average cost, 4d. per lb. Seasonable from August to April.
Note.—Skate may also be served with onion sauce, or parsley and butter.
SKATE, Small, Fried.
Ingredients.—Skate, sufficient vinegar to cover them, salt and pepper to taste, 1 sliced onion, a small bunch of parsley, the juice of ½ lemon, hot dripping. Mode.—Cleanse the skate, lay them in a dish, with sufficient vinegar to cover them; add the salt, pepper, onion, parsley, and lemon-juice, and let the fish remain in this pickle for ½ hour. Then drain them well, flour them, and fry of a nice brown, in hot dripping. They may be served either with or without sauce. Skate is not good if dressed too fresh, unless it is crimped; it should, therefore, be kept for a day, but not long enough to produce a disagreeable smell. Time.—10 minutes. Average cost, 4d. per lb. Seasonable from August to April.