|top| - Flay

Chef’s Tip: The difference between "skinning" and "flaying" is speed. Flaying implies a single, continuous, masterful stroke. If you hesitate, you tear the flesh.

It is impossible to discuss the history of the word without confronting its darkest application: flaying as a method of torture and execution. In the ancient and medieval worlds, flaying was a punishment reserved for the most heinous crimes or, more commonly, for enemies of the state and heretics.

Chef’s Tip: The difference between "skinning" and "flaying" is speed. Flaying implies a single, continuous, masterful stroke. If you hesitate, you tear the flesh.

It is impossible to discuss the history of the word without confronting its darkest application: flaying as a method of torture and execution. In the ancient and medieval worlds, flaying was a punishment reserved for the most heinous crimes or, more commonly, for enemies of the state and heretics.