Butterflying

Butterflying is a way of preparing meat, fish, or poultry for cooking by cutting it almost in two, but leaving the two parts connected; it is then often boned and flattened.

In butchery, butterflying transforms a thick, compact piece of meat into a thinner, larger one.

[4] The more specific term spatchcocking refers to a variation on butterflying that also removes the backbone and possibly the sternum, typically from a smaller bird.

[6] According to The Oxford Companion to Food by Alan Davidson, the word spatchcock could be found in cookbooks as far back as the 18th and 19th centuries.

It was thought to be of Irish origin, possibly short for "dispatch cock," which referred to "grilling a bird after splitting it open down the back and spreading the two halves out flat."