How to properly carve meats (1904)
Carving meats
The art of carving is a very requisite branch of domestic management. It not only belongs to the honors of the table, but is important from an economical point of view. For a ham or a fowl or a joint of meat, ill-carved, will not serve so many persons as it would were it properly done, and it does seem to me that the most careless and commonplace person can at once discern the difference in the taste (to say nothing of the looks) of a fowl that is well-carved and one that is awkwardly handled. Ladies especially ought to make carving a study. At their own homes, they grace the table, and should be able to perform the task alloted them with sufficient skill to prevent remark or the calling forth of eager proffers of assistance from good-natured visitors who probably would be mortified by a complete failure.
It is true that the mode adopted of not sending meats, etc, to the table, but having them served from a side table by servants, banishes the necessity for promiscuous carving from the elegantly-served boards of the wealthy. But in the homes of the less fortunate, where regular servants are not at hand, skill in the use of the carving knife is obvious.
Place whatever is to be carved in a dish large enough that it may be easily turned when necessary. The dish should be close enough to the carver that it will not be necessary to move it during the process of carving, only sufficient room being left for the plates. The carving knife should be well-sharpened so that it will cut through smoothly without great pressure or sawing.
Meats such as ham, veal, corned beef, mutton, roast pork, etc., should be cut in very thin slices. There are certain choice cuts with which the experienced carver is acquainted.
The breast of a turkey is so large that slices taken neatly from it, and from the wings, are often sufficient for the company. They should be taken from each side alternately, beginning close to the wings, and a little force meat and a small piece of liver should be served to each guest. When it is necessary for the legs to be used, they should be separated from the body with a sharp knife and cut into slices.
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Publication: The Ranch (Seattle, Wash.)
Publication date: December 01, 1904
