Skate with Capers and Lemon

Skate, which until recently could be found only in ethnic markets, has finally caught on in the United States. The French have been cooking it for years, and 20 years ago it was cooked in inexpensive restaurants and bistros with burnt butter, beurre noir. Beurre noir is now, happily, out of fashion, and chefs have taken to cooking in more imaginative ways, including meunière for which the butter is only caramelized into beurre noisette, not burnt. Dishes cooked à la grenobloise have been ar