We occasionally buy flat fish from Waitrose; in particular Brill (Rémol) and Turbot (Rodoballo). More recently we have tried Lemon Sole (?) and Dover Sole (Lenguado). Invariably we roast the fish on the bone. With the Soles we remove the skin and brown the fish in butter in a pan before transferring to the oven.
In Conil we haven’t cooked much flatfish at home. Last summer we tried Wedge Soles (Acedías) for the first time. The typical method of cooking flatfish, as you would expect, is coated in flour and deep fried.
There are a variety of flatfish on sale; mainly Soles in the Mercado de Abastos in Conil but in Cadíz there is a wider choice. The soles were mostly referred to as Lenguado. Identifying Fish in Spain can be difficult as there are so many regional variations; the same fish will be known by a different name in ports only 30km apart. Also the same names can be given to different fish in different fisheries. Thankfully fish on sale are usually labelled with their scientific names as well as their common names. In Conil I have seen Common Sole and Senegalese Sole described as Lenguado; Klein’s Sole referred to as Lenguado de Piedra or Suela. Bastard Sole was known as Soldado. In Cádiz the term Lenguado can be used used to describe all four species. If in doubt ictio.term has a database of fished species from the coast of Andalusia
A further guide to identification is whether the eyes are on the right side of the fish (dextral) or the left side (sinistral). Soles are generally dextral but this approach can be useful for fish such as Witch and Megrim which look very similar but have different asymmetry.
