The seat, for the carver should be somewhat elevated above the other
chairs: it is extremely ungraceful to carve standing, and it is rarely
done by any person accustomed to the business. Carving depends more on
skill than on strength. We have seen very small women carve admirably
sitting down; and very tall men who knew not how to cut a piece of
beef-steak without rising on their feet to do it.
The carving knife should be very sharp, and not heavy; and it should
be held firmly in the hand: also the dish should be not too far from
the carver. It is customary to help the fish with a fish trowel, and
not with a knife. The middle part of a fish is generally considered the
best. In helping it, avoid breaking the flakes, as that will give it a
mangled appearance.
In carving ribs or sirloin of beef, begin by cutting thin slices off
the side next to you. Afterwards you may cut from the tender-loin, or
cross-part near the lower end. Do not send any one the outside piece,
unless you know that they particularly wish it.
In helping beef-steak, put none of the bone on the plate.
In cutting a round of corned beef, begin at the top; but lay aside the
first cut or outside piece, and send it to no one, as it is always dry
and hard. In a round of _a-la-mode beef_, the outside is frequently
preferred.
In a leg of mutton, begin across the middle, cutting the slices quite
down to the bone. The same with a leg of pork or a ham. The latter
should be cut in _very thin_ slices, as its flavour is spoiled when cut
thick.
To taste well, a tongue should be cut crossways in round slices.
Cutting it lengthwise (though the practice at many tables) injures the
flavour. The middle part of the tongue is the best. Do not help any one
to a piece of the root; that, being by no means a favoured part, is
generally left in the dish.
In carving a fore-quarter of lamb, first separate the shoulder part
from the breast and ribs, by passing the knife under, and then divide
the ribs. If the lamb is large, have another dish brought to put the
shoulder in.
For a loin of veal, begin near the smallest end, and separate the ribs;
helping a part of the kidney (as far as it will go) with each piece.
Carve a loin of pork or mutton in the same manner.
In carving a fillet of veal, begin at the top. Many persons prefer the
first cut or outside piece. Help a portion of the stuffing with each
slice.
In a breast of veal, there are two parts very different in quality,
the ribs and the brisket. You will easily perceive the division; enter
your knife at it, and cut through, which will separate the two parts.
Ask the persons you are going to help, whether they prefer a rib, or a
piece of the brisket.
For a haunch of venison, first make a deep incision, by passing your
knife all along the side, cutting quite down to the bone. This is to
let out the gravy. Then turn the broad end of the haunch towards you,
and cut it as deep as you can, in thin, smooth slices, allowing some of
the fat to each person.
For a saddle of venison, or of mutton, cut from the tail to the other
end on each side of the back-bone, making very thin slices, and
sending some fat with each. Venison and roast mutton chill very soon,
therefore it is usual to eat it with iron heaters under the plates.
Some heaters are made to contain hot coals, others are kept warm with
boiling water, and some are heated by spirits of wine; the last is a
very exceptionable mode, as the blue blaze flaming out all around the
plate, is to many persons frightful. Currant jelly is an indispensable
appendage to venison, and to roast mutton, and to ducks.
A young pig is most generally divided before it comes to table, in
which case, it is not customary to send in the head, as to many persons
it is a revolting spectacle after it is cut off. When served up whole,
first separate the head from the shoulders, then cut off the limbs, and
then divide the ribs. Help some of the stuffing with each piece.
To carve a fowl, begin by sticking your fork in the pinion, and
drawing it towards the leg; and then passing your knife underneath,
take off the wing at the joint. Next, slip your knife between the leg
and the body, to cut through the joint; and with the fork, turn the
leg back, and the joint will give way. Then take off the other wing
and leg. If the fowl has been trussed (as it ought to be) with the
liver and gizzard, help the liver with one wing, and the gizzard with
the other. The liver wing is considered the best. After the limbs
are taken off, enter your knife into the top of the breast, and cut
under the merry-thought, so as to loosen it, lifting it with your
fork. Afterwards cut slices from both sides of the breast. Next take
off the collar-bones, which lie on each side of the merry-thought,
and then separate the side-bones from the back. The breast and wings
are considered as the most delicate parts of the fowl; the back, as
the least desirable, is generally left in the dish. Some persons, in
carving a fowl, find it more convenient to take it on a plate, and as
they separate it, return each part to the dish; but this is not now the
usual way.
A turkey is carved in the same manner as a fowl; except that the legs
and wings being larger, are separated at the lower joint. The lower
part of the leg, (or drumstick, as it is called,) being hard, tough,
and stringy, is never helped to any one, but allowed to remain on the
dish. First cut off the wing, leg, and breast from one side; then turn
the turkey over, and cut them off from the other.
To carve a goose, separate the leg from the body, by putting the fork
into the small end of the limb; pressing it close to the body, and then
passing the knife under, and turning the leg back, as you cut through
the joint. To take off the wing, put your fork into the small end of
the pinion, and press it closely to the body; then slip the knife
under, and separate the joint. Next cut under the merry-thought, and
take it off; and then cut slices from the breast. Then turn the goose,
and dismember the other side. Take off the two upper side-bones, that
are next to the wings; and then the two lower side-bones. The breast
and legs of a goose afford the finest pieces. If a goose is old, there
is no fowl so tough; and if difficult to carve, it will be still more
difficult to eat.
Partridges, pheasants, grouse, &c., are carved in the same manner as
fowls. Quails, woodcocks, and snipes are merely split down the back; so
also are pigeons, giving a half to each person.
In helping any one to gravy, or to melted butter, do not pour it _over_
their meat, fowl, or fish, but put it to one side on a vacant part
of the plate, that they may use just as much of it as they like. In
filling a plate, never heap one thing on another.
In helping vegetables, do not plunge the spoon down to the bottom of
the dish, in case they should not have been perfectly well drained, and
the water should have settled there.
By observing carefully how it is done, you may acquire a knowledge
of the joints, and of the process of carving, which a little daily
practice will soon convert into dexterity. If a young lady is ignorant
of this very useful art, it will be well for her to take lessons of
her father, or her brother, and a married lady can easily learn from
her husband. Domestics who wait at table may soon, from looking on
daily, become so expert that, when necessary, they can take a dish to
the side-table and carve it perfectly well.
At a dinner party, if the hostess is quite young, she is frequently
glad to be relieved of the trouble of carving by the gentleman who sits
nearest to her; but if she is familiar with the business, she usually
prefers doing it herself.
TO DRAW POULTRY, &c.
Though to prepare poultry for cooking is by no means an agreeable
business, yet some knowledge of it may be very useful to the mistress
of a house, in case she should have occasion to instruct a servant in
the manner of doing it; or in the possible event of her being obliged
to do it herself; for instance, if her cook has been suddenly taken
ill, or has left her unexpectedly.
As all poultry is, of course, drawn in the same manner, it will be
sufficient to designate the mode of emptying the inside of a fowl.
In winter, if the fowl is frozen, lay it before the fire till it has
completely thawed. Then have ready one or more large pieces of waste
paper, rolled up loosely into a long wisp; lay the fowl down on a clean
part of the hearth, and, taking its legs in your hand, light the paper,
and pass it back and forward above the surface of the skin, (turning
the fowl on both sides,) so as to singe off all the hairs; doing it so
carefully as not to burn or scorch the skin. There should always be a
quantity of old newspapers, or other waste paper, kept in a closet or
drawer of the kitchen for this and other purposes. Next, lay the fowl
upon its back on a clean old waiter or tray, (such as should be kept
in every kitchen,) and with a large sharp knife cut off, first the
head, and then the legs at the first joint. The next thing is to cut
a very long slit in the skin at the right side of the neck, and with
your fingers strip down the skin towards the shoulders, till you come
to the craw, which you must take out with your hand. Then with your
knife make two long deep cuts or incisions on each side of the body,
going downward towards the tail. Put your hand into the cut or orifice
on the right side, and pull out the heart, liver, gizzard, and then
the entrails. Take care not to break the gall-bag, or its liquor will
run over the liver, and make it so bitter that it cannot be eaten, and
should therefore be thrown away without cooking. Next, to flatten the
body, break the breast-bone by striking on it hard with your hand. Then
tuck the legs into the lower part of the slits that you have cut on
each side of the body. Afterwards with your hand bend or curve inwards
the end of the neck-bone, and tuck it away under the long loose piece
of skin left there. After this, lay the fowl in a small tub of cold
water, and wash it well inside and out: then dry it with a clean towel.
Next, cut open the gizzard, empty it of the sand and gravel, and take
out the thick inside skin. Split open the heart, and let out the blood
that is in it. Then carefully cut the gall-bag from the liver, so as
not to break it. Wash clean the heart, liver, and gizzard, (having
trimmed them neatly,) and return the heart to the inside of the breast;
putting back also the eggs, if you have found any. Have ready the
stuffing, and fill up with it the vacancy from which you have taken
the craw, &c., pressing it in hard. Next, taking between your thumb
and finger the above-mentioned piece of skin at the top of the neck,
draw it down tightly towards the back of the fowl, (folding it nicely
over the bent end of the neck-bone,) and fasten it down between the
shoulders with a skewer, which must be stuck in so as to go lengthways
down the back. This will prevent any of the stuffing from getting out,
and will keep all compact and nice.
Then run a skewer through both the wings and the upper part of the
body, tucking in the liver so as to appear from under the right pinion,
and the gizzard (scoring it first) on the left. Both pinions must be
bent upwards. Lastly, secure all by tying two strings of small twine
tightly round the fowl; one just above the skewer that confines the
legs; the other just below that which passes through the wings.
Of course, the strings and skewers are removed before the poultry is
sent to table.
Turkeys, geese, and ducks are always trussed in this manner, the legs
being cut off at the first joint. So are fowls for boiling. But when
fowls are to be roasted, some cooks leave on the whole of the legs and
feet, (scraping and washing them clean,) and drawing the feet up quite
to the breast, where they are tied together by a string.
Pigeons, pheasants, partridges, &c., are all trussed as above, with the
legs short.
To draw a little roasting pig, cut the body open by one long slit, and
before you take out what is inside, loosen it all with a sharp knife;
then extract it with your hands. Empty the head also. Afterwards wash
the animal clean, (inside and out,) and fill the vacancy with stuffing.
Having bent the knees under, skewer the legs to the body, and secure
the stuffing by tying twine tightly several times round the body; first
fastening the slit by pinning it with a wooden skewer. Having boiled
the liver and heart, chop them to enrich the gravy.
FIGURES EXPLANATORY OF THE PIECES INTO WHICH THE FIVE LARGE ANIMALS ARE
DIVIDED BY THE BUTCHERS.
[Illustration: _Beef_
1. Sirloin.
2. Rump.
3. Edge Bone.
4. Buttock.
5. Mouse Buttock.
6. Leg.
7. Thick Flank.
8. Veiny Piece.
9. Thin Flank.
10. Fore Rib: 7 Ribs.
11. Middle Rib: 4 Ribs
12. Chuck Rib: 2 Ribs.
13. Brisket.
14. Shoulder, or Leg of Mutton Piece.
15. Clod.
16. Neck, or Sticking Piece.
17. Shin.
18. Cheek.
]
[Illustration: _Veal._
1. Loin, Best End.
2. Fillet.
3. Loin, Chump End.
4. Hind Knuckle.
5. Neck, Best End.
6. Breast, Best End.
7. Blade Bone.
8. Fore Knuckle.
9. Breast, Brisket End.
10. Neck, Scrag End.
]
[Illustration: _Mutton._
1. Leg.
2. Shoulder.
3. Loin, Best End.
4 Loin. Chump End
5. Neck. Best End.
6. Breast.
7. Neck, Scrag End.
_Note._ A Chine is two Loins; and a Saddle is two Loins and two Necks
of the Best End.]
[Illustration: _Pork._
1. Leg.
2. Hind Loin.
3. Fore Loin.
4. Spare Rib.
5. Hand.
6. Spring.
]
[Illustration: _Venison._
1. Shoulder.
2. Neck.
3. Haunch.
4. Breast.
5. Scrag.
]