The high quality lemon sole is a flatfish belonging to the Pleuronectidae family. The broad-oval, meaty body has a small head and mouth. The upper surface skin is smooth and slimy with a reddish brown colouring mottled with brown and dark orange flecks. The blind side is white. The lemon sole feeds on bristle worms, crustaceans and molluscs. It lives predominantly on stony grounds in depths of 10 to 200 metres and can reach a length of 50-70 cm, a weight of up to 1.5 kg and an age of 17 years. However, fished specimens have an average length of 30 cm and a weight of 400 g.
Taste
The genuine lemon sole is often preferred by gourmets to the common sole. Their lean, white, meat is somewhat softer although the fillets thicker. It is the ideal fish for frying, with or without skin, but is also suitable for poaching.
