Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Wonderous Words Wednesday

Wonderous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme at bermudaonion.net. Each week, we talk about a new word that we have come across in our reading and what it means. I am new to this meme, but I love the concept, because I get to mingle with other bloggers while improving my vocabulary...self-improvement AND playing(!)


I am reading "Les Miserables." One of the passages tells about a group of young men that run around Paris and all of the trendy places that they go. I was interested in the trendy restaurants and so I started to look them up to see whether any were still there. When I "googled" the passage, another translation of "Les Mis" popped up! The passage had been about the best place in Paris for roast chicken, but this new passage called it "spatchcocked chicken!"

What?

What on earth is a spatchcocked chicken, I wondered. Do be honest with you, I thought that it sounded vaguely obscene... I looked it up, and it is a way of butterflying chicken. I found an excellent video that provides a "how to."

By the way, I found ANOTHER dish that translated differently while I was doing my search and I am going to cook it and and talk a little more about Les Mis this weekend, if you want to cruise back by and see pics of my French cooking creation!

9 comments:

  1. I've never heard of that! There's no way I could spatchcock a chicken - I buy the boneless, skinless kind.

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  2. I know what you mean. The video guy makes it look easy but I think he is a butcher, which would explain it!

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  3. When you say he's a butcher, I hope you mean he's a professional meat cutter.

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  4. In Australia we use spatchcock as a term for a small chicken, but have the same usage of spatchcocked chicken,ie butterflied. I love reading French classics and even you your reading of Les Mis. Interesting that even then young people were checking out all the trendy places. I must get to reading this one day too. I'm sure it's fascinating.

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    1. I didn't know how that was used in Australia. I think one of my favorite things about blogging is that I definitely learn something new every day!

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  5. Sounds yummy! I look forward to your French cooking adventure.

    I did explain gnomon when I passed the sundial today, but I didn't manage to gracefully slip it into the conversation. More of a "hey guys, I learned this great new word!" sort of thing. Fortunately, I had a tolerant audience.

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    1. Lol! That's exactly how I would have "worked it into the conversation."

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  6. I had heard of spatchcocking and butterflying a chicken and finally got the nerve to do it. Easier than it sounds and cooks so much faster! I love the word, spatchcock. Makes me laugh.

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    1. Oh, you actually did it- cool! I think that the word is funny too. Vaguely obscene. Lol!

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