Not long after publishing a recipe for skate in early summer, I received a letter from a reader describing what happened when he and his wife cooked and served the dish.

“The wine was poured, the plates were assembled and I took the first mouthwatering and delicious bite,” he wrote. “It was truly magnificent and both of us were looking forward to enjoying the remainder of the meal. But a few moments later — the very next mouthful, actually — I smelt ammonia. We couldn’t understand why it smelt, nor did we feel queasy about any we had already eaten.”

The problem in this case is that the urea in the fish, which keeps it in osmotic balance when it is in the sea, leaves a distinct smell of ammonia after it dissipates. Handled properly, with the wings cut from the fish immediately it is caught, there will be no smell. But if the fish has been poorly prepared the odour may occur.

The smell, according to some experts, is meant to disappear during cooking (so much for that theory, says my correspondent). Others say that it can sometimes occur if the skate is too fresh — less than a day out of the water. But such freshness is rare indeed in British fish-retailing circles.

It comes down to buying your skate from the most reliable fishmonger you can find. Always smell the fish before buying and, if in doubt, soak the skate wings in water acidulated with lemon juice for 30 minutes before cooking.

Ingredients
Serves 2

Prep: 15 min
Cook: 20 min

For the skate

1 tbsp olive oil
2 x 350g skate wings, skinned
Sea salt and pepper
Pinch of dried red chilli flakes
1 lemon, quartered

For the green olive crush

2 tbsp green olives
4 tbsp flat-leaf parsley
1 tsp salted capers, rinsed
2 ripe red tomatoes
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
A good grind of pepper



METHOD

Heat the oven to 200C/Gas 4. Season the skate wings with salt and pepper and a pinch of dried chilli. Heat the olive oil in a pan and lightly brown the skate on the top side. Transfer to the roasting pan and roast for 15 to 20 mins, depending on the size of the wings, or until the meat lifts away easily from the bone.

To make the green olive crush, coarsely chop the parsley and the olives, discarding the stones. Halve the tomatoes, squeeze out the seeds and juice and finely chop the flesh. Mix the tomatoes with the parsley and olives, capers, olive oil, lemon juice and pepper. Serve with the skate wings, with lemon quarters.

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