Skate, with Hazelnut or Black Butter

Cut the fish up into three parts, the two wings and the body; each wing into three parts and the body into two, making eight parts in all. Suppress the head and tail, empty it from the belly side, reserving the liver. Plunge the pieces of skate into boiling water until the skin will detach when scraping it off with a knife. After all the pieces are well cleansed soak them for one hour in cold water. Boil some water in a saucepan, add to it minced roots and onions, aromatic herbs, a bunch of parsley, salt and three gills of vinegar; let this boil for ten minutes, then throw in the skate and the liver, cover over when it begins to boil, set it on one side to poach merely, without boiling; a quarter of an hour later drain and dry all the moisture on a cloth. Dress the fish on a dish with the liver sliced, cover it liberally with hazelnut butter (No. 567) or else black butter (No. 565), or a sharp sauce (No. 538).