Black sole, more widely known as Dover sole, is a wonderful fish. Sole is a flat fish that lives at the bottom of the sea and, like all flat fish, its skin is too tough to eat.

When grilling sole, you must remove both skin sides (black and white). Black sole is at its best when it is between one to three days old, as it is difficult to remove the skin if it is too fresh.

When I worked as a teenager in Chez Hans, grilled black sole was served on the bone and the waiters would then de-bone the fish at the table.

Unfortunately, this skill is rarely seen these days. The photographs above shows some of the process of skinning and filleting a sole.

To prepare sole very simply, butter a grilling tray. Season the sole fillets on both sides with sea salt and freshly milled white pepper, brush with melted butter and place under a hot grill until the fillets are golden brown. Turn the fish and grill on the other side, again until golden brown.

Remove from the heat, squeeze lemon juice over the fillets and serve. The following dish requires a little more work, though most of that is in the preparation. It is best served with summer vegetables and/or salad leaves.

Fillet of black sole with parmesan crust
Serves four

Ingredients: black sole
8 fillets of black sole (two fillets per portion)
Sea salt
Fresh milled white pepper
1 lemon

Method
1. Season the fillets and squeeze the juice of half a lemon over them.
2. Put one fillet on top of a second one and wrap tightly in clingfilm. Repeat, so that you end up with four portions (two fillets per portion).
3. Place the wrapped portions in a pot of boiling water for five minutes, then remove and unwrap. Squeeze the rest of juice over the fillets and place them on a baking tray.
4. Cut the parmesan crust to the size of the fillet and place on top. Grill until the crust starts to melt.

Ingredients: parmesan crust
500g butter
850g fine breadcrumbs
150g grated parmesan cheese
3 free-range egg yolks
3 lemons zested and finely-chopped
Juice from half a lemon

Method
1. Cream the butter. Add in the breadcrumbs.
2. Add the parmesan and chopped lemon zest.
3. Add the egg yolks and the lemon juice, and mix well.
4. Roll the mixture out thinly between two pieces of greaseproof paper and place in a freezer to set overnight.

Kevin Thornton is a Michelin-starred chef and owner of Thornton’s Restaurant on St Stephen’s Green in Dublin. www.thorntonsrestaurant.com