Is a technique similar to the French "poulet au crepaudine." It's not
a small chicken or any other kind of bird. It's a method of preparation.

Some suppliers of birds may call their product spatchcock, but that's
no different than supermarkets saying that eye round is "filet mignon
of round" so they can raise the price. It's not a recognized cut; it's
a marketing ploy.

http://www.nakedwhiz.com/spatchdef.htm

Pastorio

"Bob (this one)" > wrote in
:

> Is a technique similar to the French "poulet au crepaudine." It's not
> a small chicken or any other kind of bird. It's a method of preparation.
>
> Some suppliers of birds may call their product spatchcock, but that's
> no different than supermarkets saying that eye round is "filet mignon
> of round" so they can raise the price. It's not a recognized cut; it's
> a marketing ploy.
>
> http://www.nakedwhiz.com/spatchdef.htm
>
> Pastorio
>

So you're saying the definition in the RFC FAQ is incorrect?

--
Once during Prohibition I was forced to live for days on nothing but food
and water.
--------
FIELDS, W. C.

hahabogus wrote:

> "Bob (this one)" > wrote in
> :
>
>>Is a technique similar to the French "poulet au crepaudine." It's not
>>a small chicken or any other kind of bird. It's a method of preparation.
>>
>>Some suppliers of birds may call their product spatchcock, but that's
>>no different than supermarkets saying that eye round is "filet mignon
>>of round" so they can raise the price. It's not a recognized cut; it's
>>a marketing ploy.
>>
>>http://www.nakedwhiz.com/spatchdef.htm
>>
>>Pastorio
>>
> So you're saying the definition in the RFC FAQ is incorrect?

Guess so, huh...?

I hope it's the very worst error any of us come in contact with today.

Pastorio

On Tue, 22 Jun 2004 15:51:39 -0400, "Bob (this one)" >
wrote:

>Is a technique similar to the French "poulet au crepaudine." It's not
>a small chicken or any other kind of bird. It's a method of preparation.
>
>Some suppliers of birds may call their product spatchcock, but that's
>no different than supermarkets saying that eye round is "filet mignon
>of round" so they can raise the price. It's not a recognized cut; it's
>a marketing ploy.
>
>http://www.nakedwhiz.com/spatchdef.htm

Since the term appears to be of Irish origin, an obvious question would
be "is the term an English corruption of a Gaelic word?".

Robert Klute wrote:

> On Tue, 22 Jun 2004 15:51:39 -0400, "Bob (this one)" >
> wrote:
>
>>Is a technique similar to the French "poulet au crepaudine." It's not
>>a small chicken or any other kind of bird. It's a method of preparation.
>>
>>Some suppliers of birds may call their product spatchcock, but that's
>>no different than supermarkets saying that eye round is "filet mignon
>>of round" so they can raise the price. It's not a recognized cut; it's
>>a marketing ploy.
>>
>>http://www.nakedwhiz.com/spatchdef.htm
>
> Since the term appears to be of Irish origin, an obvious question would
> be "is the term an English corruption of a Gaelic word?".

*One* story imputes that it's of Irish origin. Another one I've heard
is that it's a corruption of "spaccato" - "chopped" or "split" in
Italian. No proof for any of it.

If the Brits can make "Ypres" (EE-pr in French) into "wipers,"
anything can be posited. <g> You like Gaelic? Gaelic it is...

Pastorio

On Thu, 24 Jun 2004 20:33:18 -0400, "Bob (this one)" >
wrote:

>Robert Klute wrote:
>
>> On Tue, 22 Jun 2004 15:51:39 -0400, "Bob (this one)" >
>> wrote:

>>>http://www.nakedwhiz.com/spatchdef.htm
>>
>> Since the term appears to be of Irish origin, an obvious question would
>> be "is the term an English corruption of a Gaelic word?".
>
>*One* story imputes that it's of Irish origin. Another one I've heard
>is that it's a corruption of "spaccato" - "chopped" or "split" in
>Italian. No proof for any of it.
>
>If the Brits can make "Ypres" (EE-pr in French) into "wipers,"
>anything can be posited. <g> You like Gaelic? Gaelic it is...

I like Italian, too. The oldest reference to spatchcock in the above
website is "A classical of the vulgar tongue", 1785. It refers to
"Spatch cock, abbreviation of dispatch cock, an Irish dish ..."

It might be a corruption of dispatched cock, meaning a bird quickly
killed and quickly prepared. It might be a play on the noun dispatch -
a quickly sent communication - referring to the bird being opened like a
book and quickly send to it's destination - your plate.

Then I like spaccato, loosing the ending 'O' and becoming spatch-cot,
and then spatch cock. It is just the sort of corruption the English
would do to an Italian word. Still, the reference to Irish origin still
begs the question of whether there might be a Gaelic word it could be
corrupted from.

Robert Klute wrote:

> On Thu, 24 Jun 2004 20:33:18 -0400, "Bob (this one)"
> > wrote:
>
>> Robert Klute wrote:
>>
>>> On Tue, 22 Jun 2004 15:51:39 -0400, "Bob (this one)"
>>> > wrote:
>
>>>> http://www.nakedwhiz.com/spatchdef.htm
>>>
>>> Since the term appears to be of Irish origin, an obvious
>>> question would be "is the term an English corruption of a
>>> Gaelic word?".
>>
>> *One* story imputes that it's of Irish origin. Another one I've
>> heard is that it's a corruption of "spaccato" - "chopped" or
>> "split" in Italian. No proof for any of it.
>>
>> If the Brits can make "Ypres" (EE-pr in French) into "wipers,"
>> anything can be posited. <g> You like Gaelic? Gaelic it is...


> I like Italian, too. The oldest reference to spatchcock in the
> above website is "A classical of the vulgar tongue", 1785. It
> refers to "Spatch cock, abbreviation of dispatch cock, an Irish
> dish ..."

Such sources are notoriously inaccurate. As are too many modern ones.

> It might be a corruption of dispatched cock, meaning a bird quickly
> killed and quickly prepared.

The reference says "dispatch cock" - no "ed" on the end.

"Dispatched" (adjective) simply means "killed" with no reference to
speed. To dispatch can mean to send or it can mean to kill.

"Dispatch" (noun) can mean speedy activity. As in to perform something
with dispatch.

It would make more sense if the bird were completely dismembered. That
way it would cook the fastest.

> It might be a play on the noun dispatch - a quickly sent
> communication - referring to the bird being opened like a book and
> quickly send to it's destination - your plate.

Feels a bit of a stretch to me.

> Then I like spaccato, losing the ending 'O' and becoming
> spatch-cot, and then spatch cock. It is just the sort of
> corruption the English would do to an Italian word. Still, the
> reference to Irish origin still begs the question of whether there
> might be a Gaelic word it could be corrupted from.

There's folklore and there's *fakelore*...

I'll bet the choices in Gaelic are going to be at least as far-fetched
as the "dispatch" one.

Pastorio