Question about Ray - Smell

dclifford

I bought and fried some Atlantic Ray today.
When I went to eat it I got a very stong smell of ammonia. I couldn't eat it it was that bad. It is the same smell from really old types of graphics printers. It appears to be a smell associated with Ray, shark and skate but I am just wondering what peoples opinions are on it. I have done some searches and found 3 general opinons:

The smell occurs in very fresh Ray.
The smell occurs if the skin is not removed from the fish when caught out at sea. The longer the skin stays on the fish, the worse it gets.
The smell occurs becuase the fish is decomposing.

Minder

As I understand it, fresh ray or skate doesn't smell of ammonia.

Here is Rick Stein's opinion

Q. I have tried to cook skate on two occasions and both times it has ended up stinking of ammonia and I haven't been able to eat it. What am I doing wrong?

Rick Stein: Always smell skate before you buy it. Reject any that smells of ammonia - it's a sign that it's too old and you'll never get rid of that smell. I know it's hard to sniff food when you're in a shop (and embarrassing!), but why not? Our noses are very sensitive indicators of quality!