With Simon Rhodes from the Lobster Pot  Fihsmongers, Wood Street Food Hall

DID you know there are more than 200 species of skate divided into two sub-families, hardnose skate and softnose skate?

They are very similar to rays, although they do differ in that skate lay their fertilised eggs in what is known as a mermaid’s purse while rays bear their young in their bodies and give birth to them alive. Also, rays are generally bigger than skate.

Skate have a slow growth rate and are therefore susceptible to over fishing and in recent years have been subject to the endangered list.

At the Lobster Pot we prefer to stock skate rather than rays and have found them to be particularly popular.

One drawback of the skate is their rate of deterioration. They can go off quite quickly and are not good when they emit a strong smell of amonia.

They are best eaten within three to four days of them being caught and should be skinned and a deep pink colour when sold.

Having said that, they have a wonderful sweet, soft and flavoursome taste.

The flesh is pulled from the main cartilage, a bit like strands of spaghetti.

Apart from the classic recipe of skate with a caper butter, which I wrote about in an earlier article, why not try roasted skate with roast vine cherry tomatoes and a Dijon dressing?

First halve and oven roast some cherry vine tomatoes, drizzled with a good quality olive oil, sea salt and cracked black pepper in an oven at 200C (gas 6).

After about 10 minutes add the seasoned skate next to the tomatoes on a roasting tray and roast for another 10 minutes.

To make the dressing, mix some olive oil, a splash of white wine vinegar, a teaspoon of Dijon mustard, a squeeze of lemon and some capers together and pour over the fish and continue to cook for a further two minutes in the oven. Serve with some mashed potato, seasoned and mixed with fine chopped leeks sweated in a little olive oil.

Plain poached asparagus would make an ideal accompanyment.

So what you waiting for? Get your ‘skates’ on and pop into the Wood Street Foodhall for this delicious recipe.