# Are sea scallops really made from shark/skate? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 30, 2001, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-sea-scallops-really-made-from-shark-skate/84561 "2001-09-30T01:05:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Teacake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Teacake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teacake)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-sea-scallops-really-made-from-shark-skate/84561/41 "2013-01-08T22:55:06Z")
> [@AndrewL](#): > > They don’t contain bones, since skates are cartilaginous fish. They do contain many small cartilage rays radiating out from the fish, which stiffen the entire ‘wing’ and which are a royal pain to remove if you’ve bought a whole skate wing from the store to cook. Most people don’t take the cartilage out. Just cook and serve the whole (trimmed) wing. Once cooked, the meat slides off in satisfying bundles with a gentle run of the fork along the smooth cartilage. Serve with beurre noisette. One of my favourites. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-sea-scallops-really-made-from-shark-skate/84561/42 "2013-01-09T00:34:13Z")
> [@Teacake](#): > > Most people don’t take the cartilage out. Just cook and serve the whole (trimmed) wing. Once cooked, the meat slides off in satisfying bundles with a gentle run of the fork along the smooth cartilage. Serve with beurre noisette. One of my favourites. Now, that’s a great post. thx ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-sea-scallops-really-made-from-shark-skate/84561/43 "2013-01-09T00:38:20Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > Which reminds me, more related to the OP, “scampi” is a common pub food and is supposed to be [langoustines](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scampi), but it is mostly known as fairly tasteless nuggets of white fish covered in breadcrumbs. Supposedly quite a lot of it is actually just [generic white fish](http://lordbelmontinnorthernireland.blogspot.co.uk/2009/09/what-really-is-scampi.html) cut into chunks. Sorry, “goujons”. That’s weird. I’ve never seen pub scampi that wasn’t prawns. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-sea-scallops-really-made-from-shark-skate/84561/44 "2013-01-09T03:44:51Z")
In my country, a rumor went around that scallop meat was actually made of sting ray fins cut off using cookie cutters. I thought only a sucker would fall for that. But then, in the US, I read somewhere that some Americans buy grouper which is actually tilapia. They’re as different as you can imagine. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-sea-scallops-really-made-from-shark-skate/84561/45 "2013-01-09T04:42:37Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I remember hearing the rumour when I was a _very_ little kid. Five years old or so. So the rumor was around before _Jaws_. Ditto here, when I was 10 or less, ca 1970ish. So the rumor is not from Benchley. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-sea-scallops-really-made-from-shark-skate/84561/46 "2013-01-09T05:07:33Z")
> [@squeegee](#): > > Ditto here, when I was 10 or less, ca 1970ish. So the rumor is not from Benchley. I first heard this probably around 1970, on a game show, I believe What’s My Line, where the guest was a NYC health inspector. There’s no reason to think it’s never happened. If anyone is disturbed by the lack of closure, go get a skate wing and cut a couple of scallops from it. That will be proof that it happened at least once. Also, addressing the OP directly, there is such a thing as [sea scallops](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Placopecten_magellanicus), they are not just cut from other fish. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-sea-scallops-really-made-from-shark-skate/84561/47 "2013-01-09T17:47:04Z")
Just want to mention that scampi (sing. scampo) is the Italian for “shrimp” (plural). So technically it is redundant to say “shrimp scampi,” to identify the basic ingredient. The American usage of “shrimp” as a generic identifier is for what Brits use “prawns,” so the comment about “scampi and chips” perhaps just indicates a finer sensitivity to European language. About the preparation of skate, a fine(er?) and “standard” one is actually not with beure noisette (brown butter) is beure noir (“black” butter), which is butter cooked a smidgen longer, and is a pain because you have to monitor the cooking to the second so you don’t get burnt butter, which goes well with nothing. Plus you then add a small tip of vinegar, let it burn away, (all off heat) and some capers. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-sea-scallops-really-made-from-shark-skate/84561/48 "2013-01-09T19:12:55Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Just want to mention that scampi (sing. scampo) is the Italian for “shrimp” (plural). So technically it is redundant to say “shrimp scampi,” to identify the basic ingredient. It would be if “scampi” meant “shrimp” in English, which it doesn’t. I found [a 1959 news article](http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=6u9QAAAAIBAJ&sjid=uiUEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5512,3660647&dq=skates+scallops&hl=en) dismissing the “skates are scallops” story as an old wives tale, so, yeah, it’s been around a while. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-sea-scallops-really-made-from-shark-skate/84561/49 "2013-01-09T21:14:53Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Just want to mention that scampi (sing. scampo) is the Italian for “shrimp” (plural). According to the [link I already provided](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scampi), incorrect. > [@](#): > > _Scampi_ is the [Italian](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_language) plural of _scampo_, but is usually construed as both a singular and plural in English. > > [snip] > > the actual word for “shrimp” in Italian is _gambero_ or _gamberetto_, plural _gamberi_ or \*gamberetti \* Google translate says “scampo” is Italian for “escape”, and “scampi” is “scampi”. “Shrimp” is “gambretto” in Italian. The [Free Dictionary](http://www.thefreedictionary.com/scampi)says > [@](#): > > _n._ _pl._ **scampi** > Large shrimp broiled or sautéed and served in a garlic and butter sauce. > > [Italian, pl. of scampo, _a kind of lobster_, from Greek kampe\*, _bending (from its shape)_, perhaps from Greek kamptein, _to bend_.] from American Heritage Dictionary, but then from Collins English Dictionary > [@](#): > > scampi [ˈskæmpɪ] _n_ (Cookery) _(usually functioning as singular)_ large prawns, usually eaten fried in breadcrumbs [Italian: plural of _scampo_ shrimp, of obscure origin] [Merriam Webster](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scampi)says > [@](#): > > **Origin of _SCAMPI_** > Italian, plural of _scampo,_ a European lobster First Known Use: 1925 So I’m going to take the word of the two dictionaries that list definite answers and agree over the word of the one that says it is obscure and then doesn’t match other references. * * * \*Actual symbol is a gif of an e with a bar over it. Stupid file turns symbol into a gif link in post, so I edited as best I can. Couldn’t find symbol. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-sea-scallops-really-made-from-shark-skate/84561/50 "2013-01-10T01:21:17Z")
As the old New Yorker cartoon puts it: I say it’s spinach and I say the hell with it. The type of dictionary argument regarding usage is common and tiresome. You lost me at Google Translate, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![BrassyPhrase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea666f/32.png) [@BrassyPhrase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrassyPhrase)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2013, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-sea-scallops-really-made-from-shark-skate/84561/51 "2013-01-11T16:08:24Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > Hmmm? I thought we did a thread here sometime ago about whether there “really” were fake scallops out there made out of shark, skate, or whatever. Wherever I saw it(here or snopes), the final answer was “people always talk about this being so, but no one has any proof.” I think I was the one that asked that question. My mom had read it somewhere and as she knows, I love sharks! As sharks. I also love scallops as mmmm good food. So she was warning me. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2013, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-sea-scallops-really-made-from-shark-skate/84561/52 "2013-01-11T17:23:52Z")
The very best scallop substitution (IMHO) are cod cheeks-they can be only found where day catch boats unload. I had them at a small seafood restaurant in Gloucester, MA. They are small, with a nice chewy texture, and do taste a lot like scallops. As for skate wings-I saw them being prepared on TV-yopu poach them, then skin them, and scrape the meat off the cartilige with a fork-no way could this be used to fake a scallop. It looked good though-with a nice tomato/herb sauce! ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2013, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-sea-scallops-really-made-from-shark-skate/84561/53 "2013-01-13T00:43:17Z")
Cod cheeks seem to me in texture as exactly a mix of scallops and cartilaginous skate. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2013, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-sea-scallops-really-made-from-shark-skate/84561/54 "2013-01-13T00:46:42Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > … > There’s no reason to think it’s never happened. If anyone is disturbed by the lack of closure, go get a skate wing and cut a couple of scallops from it. That will be proof that it happened at least once… 😃 This is very funny. Usable in many a thread. ---
**Author:** ![Bighoss64](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/48db29/32.png) [@Bighoss64](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bighoss64)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-sea-scallops-really-made-from-shark-skate/84561/55 "2016-08-20T21:43:45Z")
When I was younger I worked in a restaurant known for its Crab Imperial. People would drive 50 or 60 miles for this dish. The Chef was an old Florida woman and she taught me how to make it. There wasn’t a lick of crab in it. It was meat taken from the heads of Grouper (fish). She’d even put a bit of the thin bone around the cheeks in it and people would swear it was crab shell. Pretty funny. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-sea-scallops-really-made-from-shark-skate/84561/56 "2016-08-20T22:54:37Z")
Cool story, Bro. Do you have any evidence for that, **Bighoss64** ,or must we merely take you for your word? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_great_unwashed/32/4791_2.png) [@The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Great_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2016, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-sea-scallops-really-made-from-shark-skate/84561/57 "2016-08-21T00:12:45Z")
When I was younger we used to cut up zombie meat as fake scallops. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-sea-scallops-really-made-from-shark-skate/84561/58 "2016-08-22T21:46:42Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Cool story, Bro. Do you have any evidence for that, **Bighoss64** ,or must we merely take you for your word? It was presented as an anecdote why is there need for evidence? Also, you should probably be nicer to the newbies than how your post comes off starting with a dismissive meme like that. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2016, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-sea-scallops-really-made-from-shark-skate/84561/59 "2016-08-23T00:57:14Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > It was presented as an anecdote why is there need for evidence? Also, you should probably be nicer to the newbies than how your post comes off starting with a dismissive meme like that. I don’t think the challenge was out of line. The newbie’s post, to me, also smacked of something that was useless as an anecdote. It didn’t ring true. Now, the newbie may have been honestly been posting something his young self was _told_. I doubt he prepared the grouper meat and inserted cheek bones to mimic shell. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-sea-scallops-really-made-from-shark-skate/84561.md?page=2)