Re: Skate Wings

In article <dk7npr$q70$1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
"Nancy Young" <qwerty@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> "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.
>
> nancy
>
>

Score... :-)
Well written and delightfully polite.
--
Om.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-bitch." -Jack Nicholson
.

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