M: “Why is skate so cheap in this country? Because Americans are idiots?”
Akiko: “Yes!”
Last night M. made pan-fried skate wing (panko’d and subtly curried) with a fennel and apple puree. “I’m recycling meals,” he said. He made it the first time he cooked for me, although then we had a wintry fennel and carrot slaw on the side (pictured above), and last night we had these big fat glorious spring asparagus that he picked up on his way home from a business meeting in New Paltz. (Since he brought them home on the train and the meeting was in advance of a Hudson Valley green jobs conference, we calculated that the asparagus have a negative carbon footprint — like calories in celery!) We also had sauteed rainbow chard (prime season right now) and a salad with New Paltz beets and raw goat milk feta.
Other differences between then and now: this time, we didn’t start with Champagne, oysters, and darling little homemade mushroom-and-walnut-filled pastries, a trifecta of culinary seduction if there ever was one. Also, I was wearing my go-to schlubby casual dress, in contrast to that night’s totally killer “borderline slutty dress.”
“You look even sexier tonight,” he said. Good boy.
Anyway, I’m here to say GIVE SKATE A CHANCE! It’s delicious, inexpensive, local, and sustainable. Here are some recipes and information on cooking.
PS: The edge of the wing sometimes curls up during cooking. Akiko weights the edge with something. M. says that’s cheating. I’ll let you be the judge.
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Notes from others: