Remember those commercials about the guy who stayed at the Holiday Inn Express? One has a man dressed in surgery garb and he has just exhibited amazing surgical skills and someone says, “Oh, you must be the most wonderful surgeon of all time.”
The faux doctor says, “Ah Shucks! I don’t know nothin’ bout surgery, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.” It might not have gone exactly like that but that’s close enough for gov’ment work.
Think of that as I relay this story. I’m no expert of ornithology (the study of birds). Nor did I take one course of Poultry Science while at the University of Georgia. But, make no mistake about it. I know chicken. I’m a preacher!
I remember well, Chicken 101, as I was preparing for the pastoral ministry. It was one of my favorite courses; right up there with Introduction to Offerings.
I thought I knew all there was to know about chicken. I know all about frying it, barbecuing it, boiling it, cooking it in rice, and even putting it on one of those Ronco 3000 Rotisserie machines. Ouch!
I can name all the parts of the chicken: drumstick, breast, thigh, “wangs,” pulley bone, fingers, and the innards, which includes livers and gizzards.
This is a little off the subject, but I am concerned about those chickens that are born with boneless wings. It’s hard enough for a healthy chicken to try and get off the ground, but imagine just how hard it is for those with boneless wings. I’m a sensitive man.
I thought it knew it all about chicken until I was sitting across the table from a member of one of Donna Sue’s churches and, as he was talking to another person, I overheard him say that he was looking forward to the chicken “jollip” dinner.
“What’s chicken jollip?” I asked as my feeble mind ran through all the kinds of chicken I knew. “I never heard of chicken jollip. Splain it to me.”
He was very patient with me and said it was parts of chicken, cut up, and mixed with things to make a kind of sauce or stew. It sounded like gravy to me.
“You mean it’s like chicken gravy?” I said and imagined how good that would be slathered all over one of Momma’s thin and crispy biscuits.
Well, it wasn’t really like that, but that was all I heard. Then someone said, “It’s great. Especially when it is poured over some lite bread.”
“Lite bread?” I asked. “What kind of bread?” I knew what she was talking about; just having a little fun. Lite bread was all the kind of bread I knew about when I was growing up and, as most of those things, you had to be there.
I was learning something new. After all, I did not know about this dish called chicken “jollip.” I Googled it, which is the same as looking it up. It’s actually chicken jollof and I’m looking forward to trying it. I’m sure it’s good and tastes, you know, “sort of like chicken.”