What kind of fish is this?
 

While having lunch in Paris a little while back, my wife had a fish that I believe was called "aier", but given my wonderful memory, I'm not certain of the consonant, nor the order of the 3 vowels.

The fish appeared to look line any other cut of perch or snapper, but instead of bones, had a very flexible, thin cartilage on the bottom, sort of resembling a sea fan. The meat and cartilage were white. I sort of think it might be a ray or skate, but I've never seen one of those on a plate, so wouldn't have a clue.


Any ideas? I sure hope I came close on the spelling of the word, but I can't seem to find it in a basic dictionary, so maybe it's not even close.

It sounds like skate, but I suppose it could be a number of different fish. Any other ideas on how it was prepared (ie., herbs, sauce, etc.)? That might indicate the fish.

The French for skate is "raie", and from your description that's probably what it was. Sometimes it's marked "aile de raie" which is wing of skate.

Thanks, that's what I suspected. Next time I should ask for the menu back and write the word down--much easier to find in a dictionary when it's spelled properly.