SC - Iscia ex Spondylis

[Philip & Susan Troy]

"Michael F. Gunter" wrote:
> 
> There is usually a
> rather hard and rubbery pinkish muscle attached to it that you sometimes
> get in seafood shops. I think they leave it on as an indicator that it really is
> scallop and not whitefish. Trim that off before you prepare the dish.

Sorry, I intended to mention this earlier today... whether the "strap"
is left on as a badge of authenticity I couldn't say, but the standard
rumor about faux scallops has always been, AFAIK, that they're punched
from skate wings. And while skate wings in their raw form could be said
to vaguely resemble scallops if skinned, boned, and cut into rounds with
a sort of cookie cutter, the deception would be immediately apparent
once the fish is cooked; the texture is entirely different, and a
less-than-fresh skate wing smells even worse, if such a thing is
imaginable, than a bad scallop. Skates being one of those deep-water,
ammonia-producing fish...
 
A.J. MacLane says in The Encyclopedia of Fish Cookery that the practice
is very widely known but almost never actually practiced. I have,
however, seen some kinda funky surimi/fish cake forms being sold as
scallops. 

Adamantius
- -- 
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com