sweet course, and then return to the room, and shut the door. There
is so much less rule observed nowadays, and so much more carelessness
indulged in, that the proper rules will soon be lost sight of,
and there is not one house in 20 where one sees the cheese course
properly done. The proper rule is this--before cheese is brought in
everything should be removed, except water and salt--because these
are the only things that are required with cheese, so far as the
things on the table are concerned. The port wine and ale are on the
sideboard, and so are the tumblers and wineglasses in which they
ought to be handed. As you remove the dirty pudding plates, replace
them with cheese plates, with a small knife and fork on each, with
the handles resting in the plate. Never place a cheese plate with
only a knife. Half the reason why it is popularly supposed to be
unladylike to eat cheese, is that it has been so generally eaten with
only a knife, and this is done away with if a silver fork is used.
In fact a fork is sufficient without a knife. If two servants are
waiting, the second holds the tray while the other places everything
on it; but if there is only one, she has to use a smaller tray, and
then it is a better method to remove all the silver together, and
then all the glass. If any one has used a tumbler to drink water
out of during dinner, do not remove it, but leave it for the same
use during cheese. There are many ways of handing cheese, the most
refined being to hand it, cut in squares from which the rind has been
removed, on a round glass dish or small tazza, and some rolled butter
on another; or it may be handed in a china dish with 3 divisions--for
butter, for biscuits, and for cheese. This latter is the more
convenient where there is only one servant. But many people like to
have the cheese placed on the table when they are alone; and in that
case you must place your cheese scoop or knife ready to the right
before you place the cheese on the table, and remember to bring it
on a tray. If the cheese is put on the table, you must stand at your
master’s left side with a spare cheese plate in your hand. Several
squares of cheese are cut, and you must place on this a small silver
fork, and hand it round to each person, as you would a dish, and each
takes a piece on to their own plate with the fork. Then hand bread,
or biscuits, or oat cake, or pulled bread, and butter. Then go to
the sideboard and pour out, in a port-wine glass, some port wine, not
to the brim, and 2 tumblers of ale. (This is supposing that there are
3 gentlemen at the table.) Hand these on a small round tray; if a
gentleman takes the port wine, return to the sideboard with your tray
and pour out another glass, and hand with the ale.
Now remove the cheese course, but if cheese straws or cheese pudding
or cheese soufflé are eaten instead of plain cheese, you must observe
the same rules, the only thing you have to remember is to hand
cayenne with these.
There is only one proper way to wait at table, and the foundation of
good waiting is, that there is a reason and a suitableness in every
rule, there is also a graceful simplicity in good waiting. And by
clearing as you go, which is the key-note of all these directions, it
is a help to every one. Firstly, the family comfort and refinement
are more attended to, the cook gets her dishes and plates, and has
not a general descent upon her of greasy things, muddled up with
others, and the things can be taken to the butler’s pantry in a more
methodical manner.
Having a proper table in the hall for placing dishes on greatly
facilitates their removal down stairs. A flap table with strong
supports is the best for a narrow hall, or a trestle table, which
should not be put out until the first course has begun.
Now, to prepare for dessert. Having followed the rules, you will
find there is very little left to remove. Having cleared the table,
remove the slip cloth from the bottom, and take all the crumbs away.
A scraper with a handle is best, as a brush is not often enough
washed; always use a pudding plate--a clean one, of course--to scrape
the crumbs into. First bring a fork to take away the pieces of bread
with, and then scrape the cloth very carefully, for nothing stains
damask more than breadcrumbs, if the cloth is screwed down in a press
with crumbs left in it. Never bring a dessert plate to the table
until you have quite cleared it of crumbs. Spread out your dessert
dishes, and fill up the spaces with others, that you have kept on
the dinner waggon. After you have placed spoons to the right of each
dish, place to each person the proper wineglasses, and lastly, the
wine, before your master, and if you have used other decanters during
dinner, the dessert decanters are nice and bright. See that the
sifted sugar basin that has been used at the pudding course is wiped,
and the sifter clean before putting it on the table.
Where there is only a house and parlour maid, it is absurd to expect
her to hand the dessert dishes; and even if two are waiting, it is
rather a bore in every-day life. It is kinder to the servants to let
them go to their washing-up, and pleasanter to oneself to be without
them.
One of the untidy customs of nowadays is to leave the sideboard
half-cleared, and for the servants to withdraw, leaving many things
about there that have nothing to do with dessert, and which had much
better be cleared away and put in their proper places, including the
sideboard cloth, while the family are at dessert.
As soon as the servants have left the room, the fire in the
drawing-room ought to be attended to if it is winter, and any little
touches the room requires; and before the lady of the house leaves
the dining room it is a good plan to ring the bell, as a hint to the
cook to look to the coffee, which should either be brought in when
the drawing-room bell rings, or at a regular hour. (II. Burleigh.)
_Folding Serviettes._--A few examples only are given. Those wishing
for more are referred to the ‘Book of Dinner Serviettes,’ published
at the _Queen_ office.
[Illustration: 84. Dinner Serviette. 86. Dinner Serviette.]
[Illustration: 85. Dinner Serviette. 87. Dinner Serviette.]
The accompanying figures illustrate how to fold serviettes, and
present details as to the manner of folding them. Fig. 84 is a dinner
serviette (folded) with bread inside. Fig. 85 shows first detail
of folding, half the length of serviette. Fold the serviette in 3
thicknesses lengthwise, and turn back one half of the top flap in 3
plaits along the centre line. Fig. 86 shows second detail of folding,
whole length of serviette. Proceed by folding the serviette at right
angles from the centre. Then trace the dotted line and the waved line
which equally divides the triangle formed by the second folding. You
will then have Fig. 87, third detail of folding. Trace the two waved
lines shown, and fold from the outside towards the centre to form a
square underneath the triangle, as shown in Fig. 88, fourth detail
of folding. Finish by folding back the corners as indicated by the
arrows.
[Illustration: 88. Dinner Serviette. 89. Breakfast Serviette.]
[Illustration: 90. Breakfast Serviette. 91. Breakfast Serviette.]
[Illustration: 92. Breakfast Serviette. 93. Breakfast Serviette.]
[Illustration: 94. Breakfast Serviette. 95. Marie Louise Serviette.]
Fig. 89 is a breakfast serviette (folded), with bread inside. Fig. 90
shows first detail of folding, half the length of serviette. Commence
by folding the serviette in 3 thicknesses, and form one half of the
top flap into a centre plait. Fig. 91 shows second detail of folding.
Turn over and fold the serviette in halves as shown in Fig. 91,
and trace the waved lines. Then fold from right and left. You will
then have Fig. 92, third detail of folding. Take up the top layer,
and fold as indicated by the dotted lines of the triangle. Thus you
come to Fig. 93, fourth detail of folding, and Fig. 94, fifth detail
of folding. The same manipulation is repeated from the opposite
side, and the corners placed under the centre plait. To arrive at
a satisfactory result the folding must be done very carefully, and
serviettes ought to be very slightly starched by the laundress.
The Marie Louise Serviette.--Open the serviette before you; fold
it in half, with the edges at the top; plait 4-5 in. of the damask
upwards to within 1 in. of the top, as described in Fig. 95; turn
the serviette over, and make a similar plait on this side (see
Fig. 96); plait this up crossways in the manner of a closed fan, and
with the finger and thumb draw out the points between the folds, as
described on the left-hand side of Fig. 97; place the lower part of
the fan in a wineglass or serviette ring; it will then assume the
appearance represented in Fig. 98.
[Illustration: 96. Marie Louise Serviette. 97. Marie Louise
Serviette. 98. Marie Louise Serviette.]
=Carving.=--The following excellent instructions are summarised from
a series of articles by D. Q. P., published in the _Queen_ some time
since.
_Fish._--It is scarcely necessary to state that the duties of the
carver do not commence until the fish is on the table; but, granting
that fish may be easy to cut up, yet it is quite as possible to
mangle and destroy its appearance as it is to destroy the look and
flavour of a fowl. Fish requires in its way the same qualities and
skill. There should be the same knowledge of the general anatomy, and
of the choice and ordinary parts. Delicacies and tit-bits abound in
all fish. A fish slice should always be used, and the best form for
it may be likened to the sole of a Turkish slipper, the pointed toe
turning a little upwards, and the handle springing from the centre
of the heel. The fork usually accompanying the fish slice is not by
some people considered an absolute necessity, an ordinary dinner fork
doing such service as is required.
If a spoon or ladle has to be used, care must be taken never to
spill, or make a mess, or heap up a great quantity of what is being
helped upon a plate at a time. Avoid jerking, or the slipping of
knife, fork, or slice, always keeping the elbows well into the sides,
and letting the strength necessary to be exercised come from the
hands and wrists. Never, either, grasp your carving implements too
near the hilt; rather hold them, as well for the sake of appearance
as for cleanliness and neatness, as much at the end of the handle as
possible.
Cod.--With regard to codfish, the flaky system of apportionment
should generally be adopted, though, under certain circumstances,
what applies to the cutting up of salmon may be remembered, with
the addition that the liver and the sound of cod, playing as they
do very important parts, must be dispensed in fair quantities with
each helping of the solid. Very requisite, in dealing with these
little adjuncts, is it for the carver to calculate to a nicety the
proportions which will allow a taste for everybody at the board.
Cod’s head and shoulders is looked upon by some as a vulgar dish.
After delicately slicing away in one or two unbroken flakes a small
portion of the solid shoulder, a piece of the gelatinous flesh
in and about the jowl should also be placed upon the plate, as
this is a particularly nutritious and succulent substance. It is
impossible to do much more than to dig out this rather unmanageable
substance, clearing away the jaw and other bones, and leaving them
upon the dish; though, despite the readiness with which the flesh
comes away, it is not always easy to get rid of them entirely, and
a few may inevitably adhere to the portions distributed. But, as
the characteristic of these helpings must be a certain amount of
unsightliness, the bones are of little consequence, and must be
expected.
Flounders.--Fried flounders are not by any means to be despised; but
of course, like fillets, fried or stewed eels, flounder souchet,
smelts, whitebait, and such small fry, need no carving; though
“helping” must always be considered as a very material element in the
carver’s art.
Gurnet.--The gurnet is not so common as either of the foregoing; it
is treated with the fish slice precisely upon the same principles as
those prescribed for the haddock.
Haddock.--The haddock, which is generally cooked and served in a
curled posture, will best recommend itself to the carver who has an
eye to excellence in quality and cookery; the flakes should fall
right and left, with a creamy suffusion upon the slightest touch of
the fish-knife’s point as it is run down the spine. The thickest or
shoulder end of the fish is the best; and if there be a preference,
the inner side is likely to be the more delicate, and, therefore,
suited to the special or appreciative friend, for whom the carver
should always have a thought.
Herring.--The last remark also applies to the fresh herring, when of
too great dimensions to form one portion by himself; he, like the red
mullet, is more delicate when small in size, just enough for one.
John Dory.--The John Dory is to be carved upon precisely the same
principles as the turbot, with additional emphasis laid on the
importance of the fin, whilst the skin is in itself an exquisite
delicacy--never to be tampered with by the carver. The wart-like
growths which mar to some extent the back of the turbot are absent in
the John Dory, which may be said to be always the better, the larger
he is. His head, important as it looks, does not recommend itself,
and, as a rule, being filled with parsley, should be left untouched
upon the dish.
Mackerel.--Mackerel, though a simple dish for the carver to attack,
must not be passed over without a word. When boiled, it should never
be hacked by an attempt to divide it through and through; but the
fish slice should be inserted from his tail upwards, to his gills,
reserving for a special friend the tail quarter, and, if the fish be
in roe, perhaps just a suggestion of an unfair share of the latter.
The head and backbone are easily disengaged from the remaining
underneath side upon the dish, and there is no question that it is
better not to turn it over when this part is to be helped. A broiled
mackerel, on the contrary, being split, should be cut through and
through, bone and all.
Mullet.--The red mullet, again, makes very little demand upon
dexterity, nothing being requisite beyond a fair division,
longitudinally, into 2 parts, if the fish be too large for one. The
so-called liver, usually just visible under the opening of the gill,
is a most precious morsel, and must fairly be apportioned, whilst the
head itself presents much pretty picking, the brain not being the
least. Small red mullet, however, besides being superior in quality
to the large, have the advantage of forming just sufficient for a
single portion.
Salmon.--Salmon is a fish which offers very little difficulty to
the carver, and so long as a due proportion of thick and thin be
neatly cut--again in oblong squares--from the side lying uppermost,
nothing remains to be attended to. The _thick_, however, must always
predominate in quantity, and it is better to begin cutting from the
left, and also better, as in the case of the turbot, to raise the
bone when the upper side is gone than to attempt to turn the fish
over to get at the remaining lower side. The head and tail, though
usually despised, and rarely seen at table, have nevertheless some
very succulent picking on them, but do not offer much of a field for
the carver to display his skill upon. He has but “to help” them as
neatly as may be. Equally, this is pretty much all he has to do when
the fish is brought to table in slices; he has usually but to make an
equal division of the slice, taking care, of course, that each half
is made up of thick and thin together.
Shell-fish.--Shell-fish likewise only generally has to be “helped,”
being usually cut up before it is sent to table, and therefore
does not need more than a word of recognition here; but it maybe
permissible to add that the lobster has no part, not even the
minutest tendril, that is unworthy of attention.
Sole, &c.--In speaking of the turbot and dory, nearly all has been
said that is necessary to guide the carver in his handling of brill,
large sole, and plaice.
Turbot.--Lying flat upon its back, plunge the point of the fish slice
at once into its thickest folds just below the jowl, and run it down
in an imaginary central line to the tail; then split the flesh into
oblong squares, each terminating with a due proportion of fin; for
remember the fin of the turbot is a delicacy which should never be
overlooked. A careful eye should be had to the number of guests to be
helped; for if recourse must be had to the under side of the fish,
it is well to bear in mind that here the carver will find himself
amongst a shoal of starry wart-like growths, by no means agreeable
to the masticatory functions. Still, of course, when these are
eliminated, there is plenty of good eating on this under side or back
of the waistcoat, and it is better to lift the bone away from it (in
doing which there is no difficulty, if the fish be well cooked) than
to attempt to turn him over when the white front has disappeared.
Whiting.--Fried whiting served in this same form should be very large
to be so manipulated; but it is a fairer plan for the consumer than
cutting the fish deliberately in half. Thus, both the haddock and the
whiting should be helped in portions made up of the largest flakes
obtainable, and, if the former be stuffed, naturally some of the
stuffing must be placed on each plate.
_Meat._--The edge of the knife must be of preternaturally dangerous
sharpness, and the fork must not have been used too persistently
as an instrument for the extraction of corks. Bright, straight,
sharp-pointed prongs, and keen-edged flashing blades, are
indispensable for good carving. The round form, slight curve, and
rather rough surface common to buckhorn handles, afford a grip and
purchase absent from the ordinary straight bevel-edged ones of ivory
or bone. Remember that for carving joints the handles of the knife
and fork are to be short and the blades and prongs long, and that
for game and poultry the very reverse of this is necessary, greater
firmness of blade and point in the latter case being requisite.
Beef.--First the sirloin. The fillet or under-cut, being always
better when eaten hot than cold, should generally claim first
attention. It must be cut transversely into thick slices, like a
tongue; as also should be the fat at the thinner end, a portion of
which should go with each slice of lean from the thicker. The joint
must be turned over, to enable the carver to get at it conveniently;
and, according to the number of persons to be helped, he should cut
so many slices at once, before setting the bone up in its proper
position again. By this means he can, when helping from the main
bulk of the joint, give a portion of the fillet to each, without
having constantly to turn the joint from one side to the other. Some
people prefer that both upper and under side of a sirloin should be
cut alike--that is, transversely--and, though generally considered
an extravagant way, it is not without its advantages; the chief of
these notably being that each slice has an equalisation of brown
and juicy meat--there being, so to speak, no outside cut, each help
having, in a section, brown and underdone in the same slice. A piece
of the fat from the flap or lower end of the joint must, of course,
accompany every portion, as in the case of the fillet, and it should
be remembered that these two sorts of fat are very different in
quality; the under, or fillet, being of a far more juicy, delicate,
and tender quality than the upper, especially when hot. The upper,
however, accompanied as it is by the crackly edge of skin, is
exceedingly toothsome, with a flavour peculiarly its own.
The ordinary plan of carving the sirloin, however, recommends itself
to most housewives as the better, from the fact that lean and fat go
together necessarily with each slice. It is generally advised that,
before slices are cut, the point of the knife should be inserted
a short distance between the meat and the bone, both of the chine
(or short upright bone) and the rib (or long bone). Then the knife
has but to be passed dexterously down the face of the meat, and
each slice comes away easily and clean from the edges. Only, of
course, those who are helped first, in this instance, get the brown
or well-done outside, and those later on the under-done or juicy.
Therefore it is always necessary for the carver, as an act of common
civility, to ask those whom he is helping whether their preference
be for well or under done. Slices of roast beef from the upper side
cannot well be cut too thin, when carved in the ordinary fashion,
excepting perhaps the first or outside slice, which admits, from
its crispness, of having a little more substance. The joint should
be kept perfectly straight upon the dish--that is to say, at right
angles with the line of sight of the carver--nothing looking worse
or more awkward than for the meat to be twisted all awry; and in
fact no real facility is afforded by doing so, for, if the carver
does but stretch his arms out far enough to bring his right hand and
wrist well above the joint, he will find that by holding the knife
almost perpendicularly, and cutting downwards, he has, with the
support from the fork, all the purchase necessary. On no account,
either, may he stand up, set his arms akimbo, or bow his back; all
the strength requisite can be exercised from his chair, by inclining
the body sufficiently forward. The muscular exertion demanded is
seldom greater than most ladies, with practice, can supply, and they
should not be deterred by any slight sense of fatigue in the early
days of their carving career, as it will prove a gentle exercise well
calculated to strengthen their hands and wrists, without in any way
disfiguring them.
During all pauses in the carving, the knife and fork should be placed
on the knife rests, and never thrust and left under the joint; nor,
while the carver adds the gravy to the plate of meat in front of
him, with the spoon in his right hand, is it well for him to hold
both knife and fork in a bunch, as it were, in his left. To do
this gives a slovenly, hasty, eating-house sort of effect to the
process, especially if, at the same time, the dish be tilted with
the left hand, for the easier filling of the spoon. This is always
an inelegant proceeding, calculated to endanger the purity of the
tablecloth, by the sluicing of the gravy over the edge of the dish,
or, even worse, by the capsizing of the joint itself. A carver cannot
be too careful never to make a mess; and if every meat dish has, as
it should have, a well, there is no excuse for his doing so. A tiny
crust of bread put under one end of the dish to cant it a little, in
the absence of a gravy well, is at the most all that can be pardoned
in the way of disturbing the equilibrium of the dish. If a portion of
the garnish of horse-radish is to go with each helping, it must be
dispensed with the points of the fork. The gravy spoon should always
be put in a vessel of hot water, and placed at the right hand of the
dish, up to the moment of using. So essential, too, are hot plates to
a perfect condition of roast meat, that a second plate, for a second
helping, is strongly to be advocated; and for the same reason, though
a dignified calm should characterise the carver’s behaviour, there
should be, on the other hand, no approach to dawdling.
Attention to simple details like these distinguishes the good from
the bad carver, and renders the execution of the task rather a
graceful act than otherwise. In carving the sirloin and similar
ribbed joints, a too pliant blade is not desirable. When, however,
we are dealing with a round of beef lying flat before us, or the
boiled silver side, or a piece of roast so-called boned beef, the
knife cannot well be too yielding, nor, again, the slices cut too
thin. Never either omit with this sort of joint, where one has
to cut directly towards the fork, to raise its finger guard, for,
if the knife slip, it will run straight up over the bow of the
prongs, to the imminent peril of the carver’s hand. For, of course,
in manipulating a piece of meat with the surface to be cut lying
uppermost, the left or fork hand is higher than the right or knife
hand--nearly the reverse of the position necessary in carving a
joint standing upright. In this case the knife is held nearly
perpendicularly, the fork nearly horizontally--just, indeed, the
contrary to the manner of using the tools for a flat joint.
With the aitch-bone, as with the round of beef, it may be desirable
to cut rather a thick slice from the outside before beginning to
help; but the habit is wasteful, and should be adopted with judgment.
These are not difficult joints to carve, if it be always remembered
that a knife with a thin pliant blade is absolutely necessary. Of
course a delicate morsel of the fat must go with each serving. The
brisket of beef is not a joint very usually to be met with; but it
has its merits, and has only to be cut neatly across the bones, to
prevent its having a jagged, untidy look on its reappearance at
table. What has been said concerning the carving of the sirloin of
beef applies in all respects to the carving of the ribs, except that,
these having no under-cut, the task is rendered less diversified.
The beef tongue must likewise be carved precisely upon the same
principles as the sirloin, when that joint is cut transversely, like
its fillet; the fat at the root of the tongue, of course, not being
overlooked.