Re: Skate Wings


"Bob (this one)" <Bob@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote

> Nancy Young wrote:

>> Bob, several people have said they've heard of the practice, and
>> now a site you agree is usually reliable says it, even including the
>> shark, and you still say it doesn't happen?
>
> We've all heard of things that didn't happen. The poodle being dried in a
> microwave, the hook on the car door handle...

I think it's pretty well documented that restaurants will try to pull
the wool over customer's eyes to save money. No, not all, but
to flat out say it never happens? Don't go getting all excited, but
that is naive. And I know you're not.

> Whoever wrote that about shark being served as scallops has never handled
> and cooked shark. There's not the remotest possibility of confusing the
> two. Shark eats like fish. I've cooked literally thousands of pounds of it
> in my various operations. Not a chance they'd be confused.

See, that's the thing. A) I never said *they* were confused. Chinese
restaurants who serve cat are not *confused* either. B) What matters
is does the customer know the difference?

>> The fact is, substitutions are widely done in the fish world, not just
>> with scallops. Perhaps you wouldn't be fooled, but you can bet a lot
>> of people would be.
>
> I truly doubt it in the case of scallops.

I know you do. That's why this isn't an argument, you really don't
think it happens.

> And I say that because I've handled probably 50 different kinds of fish,
> shellfish and mollusks over the years. Cooked, raw (where safe), pickled,
> preserved...

I know. I'm not disputing that.

> I have yet to see anything that can be substituted for scallops
> convincingly. Or even remotely.

For *you* ... you are in the business and know. I would not
sit here and tell you, 100%, that I would know. Especially, as
you say, if it's an ingredient in a dish with other 'stuff' ... perhaps
people would not notice.

>> There was another big stink (no pun intended) in the news about
>> fish a few years back, redfish? ha! it's really (whatever) at redfish
>> prices. Etc. Happens all the time.
>
> Substituting one kind of fish for another is something I could do all day
> long and no one could tell except someone extremely knowledgeable. There
> are four or five textures of fin fish and that's all there is. If I served
> a flatfish sauteed in butter and dressed with parsley, I daresay not one
> in 10,000 could identify what kind it is. But if I served shark - any
> shark - next to a scallop, the difference is like beef and grapefruit. No
> relationship to each other. Texture, flavor, color, mouthfeel, smell,
> bite - all different from each other.

We're sure as hell not arguing that. That isn't the question. I think
even I could tell if it was put in front of me in a taste test.

>> See, even you've heard about it, so it's not something we've snatched
>> out of thin air. It is done, it is true.
>
> Because we've heard of it doesn't mean it happens. Having heard of it is
> no more an indication of truth than having heard about dragons and ghosts
> and faces on Mars.

Now, if you think that's a face on Mars, I'd think you were stupid.
That's lame. I don't know why, though, it's incomprehensible to you
that unscrupulous whoever wouldn't try to make a buck passing off
fake scallops.

> I haven't said it's not true, I've said that in more than three decades of
> active involvement in all phases of professional foodservice, I've never
> seen it. In all my operations, I was the purchasing agent and executive
> chef and we served an awful lot of water critters. I never saw it. Not
> once.

But that's you. I'm not talking about you. Not everyone is you.

> I might begin to believe it if someone whose knowledge I trusted said he
> or she had seen it firsthand. Until then... Nope. It's an unproven
> assertion. An urban legend until I see something that actually proves it.

That's okay with me, but you should have more of an open mind
about it. Yes, I know, don't believe everything you read, and I don't,
but when the newspaper actually mentions restaurants that were
fined for the practice, I don't think it's an urban legend. And, no, I
wasn't reading a tabloid and the story on the next page was I was
raised by bumblebees and three headed dog saves owner.

I am not as gullible as you might think, though you're free to think so.
If anything, I am the cynic in this discussion.

nancy



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