Remove the ends of the ribs and roll the flank under before cooking.
Place it on the platter with the tail end at the left. Put the fork in
firmly near the centre, and carve down to the ribs in long slices,
parallel with the backbone, and the whole length. Slip the knife under
and separate the slices from the ribs; do the same on the other side of
the back. Divide the slices if very long. Cut the crisp fat from the
sides in slanting slices. Turn partly over and remove the choice bit of
tenderloin and kidney fat under the ribs.
Carving a saddle of mutton in this way is really cutting with the grain
of the meat, but it is the method adopted by the best authorities. It is
only the choicest quality of mutton, and that which has been kept long
enough to be very tender, that is prepared for cooking in this way. The
fibres are not so tough as those of beef; there is no perceptible
difference in the tenderness of the meat when cut in this manner, and
there is an advantage in obtaining slices which are longer, and yet as
thin as those from cutting across the grain.