When words evolve and culinary creativity cannot be contained, cooking terms become a hot source of amusement, finds Jinda Wedel
One gets the feeling that cooks try to match their flavourful indulgences with fanciful -- and often cheeky -- names, literary garnishes on otherwise ordinary dishes. No, a spatchcock is not something that requires a medical visit; yes, priests and nuns are involved, and certainly, there’s a prostitute in the picture. Here’s a list that goes beyond spotted dick -- rated PG, of course.
Spatchcock
Spatchcock grew out of “dispatch cock”, a method of grilling chicken. A recently revived term from the 18th and 19th century, it goes one step further than just butterflying a chicken, which merely removes the backbone; the sternum is removed as well. The bird is then flattened out before being grilled over high heat, yielding a succulent result in a shorter amount of time. A spatchcock also can mean a juvenile or small chicken such as a poussin.
Capezzoli di venere
Capezzoli di venere [kap-pez-zo-lee dee veh-neh-reh]
Not to be subtle, Capezzoli di venere, or "nipples of venus" pralines, look exactly as you’d expect: creamy chocolate breasts topped with dark chocolate nipples. Decadent, playfully erotic, and divinely delicious, the mix of Roman chestnuts in brandied sugar has earned a few places in film history. In one famous scene in the film Amadeus, Mozart’s wife is plied with capezzoli di venere by his musical rival, Salieri. In Chocolat, Juliette Binoche’s character prepares capezzoli di venere to try to seduce puritannical town patrons. The sweet treat’s sexy aura dates back to the invention of pralines itself, where, in some stories, womaniser du Plessis-Praslin demanded a treat that would excite court ladies, resulting in the praslin, or pralines.
Pets de soeur
Anticlerical and antireligious humour loom large in this list of cheeky food names -- this is the first of three. With origins in Acadian French, pets de souer is translated literally as “nuns’ farts”. Thankfully, this sweet pastry looks -- and tastes -- nothing like its name. In French Canada, it resembles a cinnamon roll, though a flaky pie crust is used instead. In Europe, ask for pets de soeur and you’ll receive airy little puffs of deep-fried dough. It is also called pets de putain, a somehow less appetising nickname, referring to the world's oldest profession (see sugo alla puttanesca).
Strozzapreti
Strozzapreti [stroh-dsa-pray-tee]; photo by
fugzu
Another anti-clerical dig from a European country, strozzapreti literally means priest-choker. The story goes that the twisted pasta is so delicious that priests, painted as corrupt and insatiable gluttons, would choke themselves wolfing it down. Others speculate that it refers to how husbands of women who served the Romagnan specialty to villainous clergy would stand by and imagine the priests choking to death on their food. A less colourful origin attributes the name to the process of shaping the dough. First, the dough is made of a kneaded mix of flour, water and salt, cut in strips and then twisted, or “strangled” in a single quick gesture, then boiled. The pasta is usually eaten with ragout or strigoli.
Cock-a-leekie
The sexual slang meaning of cock has been around since the 1610s; one would suppose that “cock” appearing in more innocent situations would no longer elicit a giggle. This is obviously not the case. Cock-a-leekie, possibly ordered at restaurants outside Scotland just for a chance to say its name, is a hearty chicken stock and leek soup-stew. Traditionalists add prunes, and historically beef or veal stock was used for a bit of taste in the otherwise simple dish.
İmam bayıldı
İmam bayıldı [ee-mahm bah-yuhl-duh]; photo by
Joannova
After breathless priests and gassy sisters comes a “swooning imam”, though there is discussion of whether bayıldı, in this context, means “fainted” or “loved intensely”. The Turkish dish supposedly gets its name from a folk tale, where a newlywed bride uses her dowry -- extremely fine olive oil -- to cook the dish. Her husband, the village imam, loves it so much he orders her to cook it every night. One night, there is no such dish on the dinner table; as the wife explains, she has run out of the expensive olive oil. The imam faints at the shock of having spent so much money. This meze dish consists entirely of eggplant stuffed with garlic, tomatoes and onion and simmered in olive oil until it becomes fragrant and lightly caramelised. Though the vegetarian dish is usually served cold in Iran, Bulgaria and Armenia, in Greece, it is served hot.
Sugo alla puttanesca
Sugo alla puttanesca [su-go al-la poo-ta-ness-ka]; photo by
Plindberg
On the other end of the celibacy spectrum is sugo alla puttanesca, or “pasta sauce for a prostitute.” First popular during the 1960’s, versions served around the world often have anchovies, capers, chilli peppers and diced tomatoes as their star ingredients. Salty, spicy and often pungent, thanks to the anchovies, explanations abound for its name. “It smells like a prostitute,” is one; “it is made by prostitutes to lure in prospective clients” is another. As entertaining as such a scandalous history may be, the real reason is much less sordid. Ischian restaurant owner Sandro Petti was forced to scrounge together ingredients for a pasta sauce when friends stopped by; he called the resulting dish “alla puttanesca”.
