modom (palindrome guy) wrote:
> If a goat may offer a point on the topic: a brochette is a skewer in
> French. A dish cooked on a skewer is cooked "en brochette." While it
> is two words in the original and not one, it is not a fabrication made
> of whole cloth to name a dish of proteins grilled on skewers "X
> enbrochette." Such language mutations are most common in Cajun and
> creole constructions. That the restaurant in question calls itself
> Atchafalaya even though it's in Houston would locate its cuisine
> outside standard French usage but squarely inside rural Acadiana.
>
> While there is certainly not any single recipe for "X en brochette" or
> even "X enbrochette," I'd assume the cooks at Atchafalaya in Houston
> do follow something like a consistent method and ingredient list when
> they prepare their evidently tasty dish.
>
> More about the Atchafalaya can be found he
> http://www.newyorker.com/archive/198...ARDS_000347146
>
> I mean the river in Louisiana, not the restaurant in Houston. John
> McPhee is a great writer, and the subject is his equal in that piece.
> Having seen at an early age the rivers and bayous he mentions in the
> essay, I may have more of a sense of connectedness than many to the
> story. I've fished in Old River, and most RFCers haven't. But I think
> I can say that McPhee's story is wonderful, anyway.

I'm not most, I've fished the Old River and throughout the Atchafalaya
swamp area many times. Great fishing most of the time and, depending on
where you launch, seldom crowded. Lots of good fishing water in there.