Karlynn Morgan wrote:
>
> I have more often heard that skate was used for "imitation scallops", my fears
> were laid to rest when Julia Child wrote in "Julia Child & More Company" (1979,
> Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.):
>
> "A story which keeps turning up in cookbooks is that skate wings are often cut
> into rounds and sold as scallops, or 'mock scallops.'  It seemed unlikely to
> me, since scallop flesh is grained vertically, and skate
> horizontally--moreover, skate meat separates so readily when cooked.
Hello!

I dined on "Aile de Raile" (hope spelling is correct) in France a few
weeks ago. It is a skate wing cooked in a very hot oven with a sauce
having a touch of Pernod. Simply delicious, better than my favorites;
rock hind grouper, yellowtail snapper and pompano. The skate beat them
all- hands down. The cartilage (looked kind of bony) radiated from the
thick part (attached to the body) outward toward the wing tip/edges. The
meat lifts out in strips (grain length wise, body to wing tip). I do not
think scallops can be cookie cut from the meat vertically to the wing
surface as the grain would not match the scallop grain and skate wings
are not thick enough.

We did use (in the 60's) brown and leopard rays for shark bait. We
harpooned the rays in the Biscayne Bay flats, cut them up (saved the
blood for chum) in a canvas cooler liner. We the fished for sharks in
Government Cut. These Rays were 50 lbs and up most were around 60-70
lbs.

It is conceivable that a strip could be cut about 1 inch thick
vertically to the wing and close to the body (thick part) and then
cookie cut some scallop looking rounds from that. We never did, we used
the strips for bait on the rods. The Ray body was used on a rope with
hook.

This hypothetical scallop forming method seems impractical as there are
not that many big rays available for the market (I think). Unless they
gather somewhere en masse for spawning or such activity. Still a lot of
work for scallop meat. Seems not too economical a method, but you never
know what the inventive factory boats come up with.

Later,

Emilio Jorge Power