"Skate with Black Butter" is a classic French working man's dish. The sort of thing (or so I imagine) they used to eat in the cafés and bistros of the old Les Halles market in Paris. Back in the old days. In the early hours of the morning. I don't cook it as often as I should, but it's incredibly easy to make, and quick off the mark, too. The "Black Butter Sauce" is another old-fashioned classic, which you can use with any white fish, and is excellent with fried eggs too- but more of that later.
Back to the skate. You will need to buy "skate wings" from the fishmonger. Skate are those rather primeval looking fish, which are members of the Ray family (family Rajidae in the superorder Batoidea) and because they have low reproductive rates, are vulnerable to over-fishing: so be aware that currently there is an ethical debate going on out there about whether indeed, you should be eating the critters at all.
The flesh of the skate is delicate and delicious. I'm still not entirely sure about the bones, and I'm no fuss pot, I tell you. You scrape the flesh off the bones with your fork, leaving behind a skeletal frame on the plate, which for some reason, reminds me of a pterodactyl carcass. It's all terrifyingly pre-historic.
This is how you cook it: clean the skate wings, and dust them lightly with seasoned flour. Heat up a frying pan and when its hot, add butter and grapeseed oil. The oil will help to stop the butter burning. Crank down the heat, and fry the skate for a few minutes on each side. Take out the cooked skate, and set it aside.
The so-called "black" butter sauce is easy. Heat up a decent knob of butter on a low heat until it begins to turn brown. You want it to be a caramel brown colour, not in fact, black, which would mean that it had burnt. The recipe title is misleading, I know. When it's brown, add a squeeze of lemon juice, some chopped flat-leaf parsley and some capers. The hot butter has a tendency to split when you add the acid, so it might be a good idea to turn the heat down even further when this happens. Arrange the sauce over the fish, and serve.
You can also pour the black butter sauce over a fried egg (ouefs au buerre noir), though if doing so, I would use a white balsamic vinegar, instead of lemon juice. According to David Ogivily in his autobiography, "Confessions of an Advertising Man", this was the chefs' favourite late night snack at the Majestic Hotel, Paris.
