So long as the taste for dinners _à la Russe_ shall continue, it
does not seem absolutely necessary for lady or gentleman to take
the trouble to learn to carve. But the idle and wasteful fashion of
employing servants to cut up your food after their own fancy, and of
sitting round a board bereft of all appearance of dinner except the
salt-cellars and glasses, to watch flowers and fresh fruit decay
and droop in the midst of the various smells of the hot meats, while
waiting to receive such portions as your attendant chooses to bestow
on you, is so opposed to the social, hospitable, and active habits
of an English gentleman that it must soon pass away, and the tempting
spread on the generous board, pleasant to the eye as well as to the
taste, resume its place.
Dexterity, grace, and tact in carving and distributing the delicate
morsels of the dish, have been many a man's passport into popularity.
Nor is this accomplishment unworthy of cultivation in the elegant
woman; affording a pretext, too, for that assistance of some favoured
neighbour which men love to offer to the fair.
The number of guests to be invited to constitute an agreeable dinner
is no longer restricted to the old rule of never less than the
number of the Graces, nor more than that of the Muses. Large tables,
well-trained servants, dinners _à la Russe_, and a greater facility
in furnishing the viands for the table than formerly existed, have
enabled families to extend the number received, and dinners of from
twelve to twenty are common, and more convenient than several small
dinners.
The invitations should be sent out, if possible, a fortnight previous
to the dinner, to avoid disappointment; and etiquette commands the
reply to be immediate, to allow the host to fill up his table in
case of refusals. The size of the table must always be a first
consideration, for all enjoyment of the good things spread before them
will be marred if people be crowded; and on the contrary, the table
must not be too large for the party: nothing can be more gloomy than
a scattered company or an empty chair. From 2-1/2 to 3 feet is a
fair calculation for each person, especially since the dimensions of
crinolines is lessened; but no more should be allowed.
There is another grand point to remember in issuing invitations--the
important social arrangement of the guests. No man of good sense would
invite the CAPULETS to meet the MONTAGUES,--a blunder which inevitably
checks many topics of conversation, throwing a damp on all attempts to
promote universal enjoyment.
Be careful at any rate to assemble, as far as your convenience and
judgment permit, the elements of harmony, and you have fulfilled
your duty. It is desirable not to have many great talkers, but if you
invariably must have some, then match them with good listeners.
In laying the cloth, care should be taken, not only that the table
should occupy the centre of the room, but that the cloth should be
spread to leave the pattern in the centre of the table, with the
design proceeding from the head, and as the cloth is now almost
universally left on the table for the dessert, lay-overs or slips are
placed round, broad enough to reach two or three inches beyond the
plate, to be carefully removed in folds when the crumb-brush has been
used after the dinner is removed.
The table being spread, and the dinner announced by the butler or
principal waiting servant, the lady of the house must quietly indicate
the arrangement of her guests according to rank, age, or any local or
occasional distinction, the master of the house leading out the first
lady, and the mistress following last with the most distinguished
gentleman, who, seated at her right hand, is her assistant in the
duties of the table.
The soup and fish are usually placed on the table together, and the
covers removed at once; the soup to the lady, the fish before the
master; or if two soups, and one should be turtle, that must be at the
head. Soup is sent round without inquiry to everybody, to be accepted
or rejected at pleasure. Sauterne, sherry, or Madeira may be offered
after the soup. After turtle soup, punch is the correct liquor. The
fish is carved and served round in the same way as the soup, if only
one kind of fish be served; if more, the choice must be left to the
guest.
After the soup and fish are served, the Removes, as they are generally
termed, that is, the _pieces de résistance_, the stronghold of the
dinner, are brought in; but before they are carved, two or more
_entrées_ are usually handed round, and if champagne be introduced,
this is the time for it to be offered.
In carving the removes, a servant must be at the side of the carver
with the plate, which he must as quickly as possible pass to the guest
for whom it is required, another servant following with the vegetables
or sauces. If only one servant be employed, the vegetables should be
on the table, that the guests may help themselves, for nothing can be
more vexatious than to have to wait for them for a quarter of an hour
after you have been served with the meat. The same may be said of the
sauces, so often, at a scantily-attended table, withheld until you no
longer care for them. Such wines as the master of the house chooses
to bestow must be offered when needed. Water _caraffes_ will be within
the reach of all, and beer, if called for, must be served.
In the matter of carving, it should be held in mind that the flavour
and the digestibility of the meat depends greatly on the careful mode
of cutting it. A delicate stomach may be disgusted with a thick coarse
slice, an undue proportion of fat, a piece of skin or gristle; and
therefore the carver must have judgment as well as dexterity, must
inquire the taste of each guest, and minister discreetly to it. This
delicate duty is more fully set forth in the direction for carving
each dish. One point it is well to remember: never use a knife when
you can help with a spoon. The lighting the dinner-table well is
of some importance. People like to see their dinner, but lamps
and candles on the table are liable to accidents. Gas is also
objectionable; the heat from it is oppressive, and the light too
glaring to be pleasant to the eyes, or becoming to female beauty:
chandeliers with wax lights or a suspended and shaded lamp we would
recommend as most favourable to the banquet and the company. Few
dishes are now placed on the table at dessert. There should be at
least three glasses placed before each guest, one of which must be of
coloured glass, and water-tumblers here and there at hand. To each,
also, a dessert-plate, a knife, fork, nut-crackers, and d'Oyley; the
decanters of such wines as the host chooses to bring forth, on their
proper stands; and salt-cellars, and sugar-vases with perforated
ladles, must also be on the table.
When the lady of the house perceives that her female guests have taken
the wine they wish, she signifies by a slight inclination the request
to leave the table, and on her rising some chivalrous gentleman opens
the door for the ladies to pass into the drawing-room, where it is the
duty of the mistress of the house to offer the usual amusements to her
friends--music, books of drawings, or conversation; but few efforts
are required among well-bred guests.
Coffee should then be brought in. If only one servant be employed,
every lady must prepare her own cup. When there are two servants,
the cups are on one tray, and the second attendant follows with the
coffee-pot, and fills the cup of each person.
If the gentlemen in the dining-room do not join the ladies
immediately, coffee is served to them at table when required; and when
they appear in the drawing-room, tea is handed round.
The greatest aid to the pleasure of a mixed party is that ease of
manner which the habits of good society produce. When the hosts are
composed and cheerful, the company commonly follow the example, and
awkward restraint disappears.
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