Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1880-02-28
The Art of Carving.

| The Art OF Carving.
We know of nothing at present which
will prove of more interest In the House
hold than the following from :. The Queen
on the art of carving. There are few good
carvers among our people. 1t is to be
| hoped there Will be more attention given
hereafter to the study of the art. 1t is an
| accomplishment every man should possess ::
| The complaint proverbially urged by IN
competent workers against their tools
should at least be rendered unjustifiable by
| every good housewife with regard to carv-
ing knives and forks These it is abso
lutely essential should be in irst-rate order
at ali times, ii she would not have legs of
mutton hacked like billets of wood or her
chickens mangled. The edge of the knife
must be OF preternaturaly dangerous sharp
ness, and the fork must not have been
used too persistently as an impromptu
instrument for the extraction OF re-
calcitrant corks. Bright, straight, sharp
| pointed prongs and keen-edged, flashing
| blades, are Indispensable for good carving
Personally, have a preference Tor buck
horn handles, silver bound and clamped-
the round form, slight curve, and rather
rough surface common 10 them atfording a
grip and purchase absent from the ordi-
nary straight bevel-edged ones of ivory or
bone. Bearing these facts in mind, and
remembering 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 re-
verse of thus IS necessary, greater hrnness
of blade and point in the natter case being
requisite, little further need be said here
concerning the carver's tools.
First then for the sirloin, that noble ard
unequaled specimen of bovine production.
The fllet or undercut from this joint, be-
| ing always better when eaten hot rather
than cold, should generally claim the
carver's first attention. 1t must be cut
transversely into thick slices, like tongue ;
as also should be the fat at the thinner end,
portion of which should 90 with each
slice of lean from the thicker. OF course
the Joint must be turned over, to enable
the carver to get at it convent
emily and, according to the number of
persons to be helped, he should cut so
many slices at once, before settling the
bone up in its proper position again. By
this means he can, when helping from the
main bulk of the joint, give portion of
the fillet to each, without having constant
ly to turn the joint from one side to the
other. Now, at times, some people prefer
that both upper and under side of sirloin
should be cut alike-that is, transversely-
and, though generally considered an ex-
travagant way, it is not without its advan-
tages, the chief of these notably being that
each slice has an equalization of brown and
juicy meat-there being, so to speak,
no outside cut, each help having, IN
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 case
| of the filet, and it should be remembered
| that these two sorts of fat are very differ
| emit in quality the under, or filet, being
of far more juicy, delicate and tender
| quality than the upper, especially when
hot. The upper, however, accompanied as
it is by the erackly edge OF skin, If we
choose to call il SO, is exceedingly tooth
some, with favor peculiarly its own,
highly priced by the Briton.
The ordinary plan of carving the sirloin,
however, recommends itself to most house
wives as the better, from the fact that lean
and fat 90 together necessarily with each
slice. 1t is generally advised that, before
slices are cut, the point of the knife should
be inserted short distance between the
meat and the bone, both of the chine Tor
short upright bone) and the rib Tor long
bone). Then the knife has but to be
passed dextrously 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
| u L. L. lona
Therefore it is always necessary for the
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 what call the ordinary fashion, except
ing perhaps the first or outside slice, which
admits, from its crispness, of having lit
| tie 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 not 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 down
ward, 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 exert1on demanded
| is seldom greater than most ladies, with
practice, can supply, and they should not
| be deferred by any slight sense OF fatigue IN
the early days of their carving career, as
| it will prove gentle exercise well calcu-
lated to strengthen their hands and wrists,
without in any way disEguring Them
| During all pauses in the carving the knife
and fork should be placed on the knife
rests, and never thrust IN or 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 the knife and fork in a bunch,
as it were, in his left. To do this gives
| slovenly, hasty, eating house sort of effect
to the process, especially If, at the same
| time, the dish be lifted with the left hand,
| for the easier filing of the spoon. This Is
! always an inelegant proceeding, calculated
to endanger the purity of the tablecloth,
| by the siuicing of the gravy over the edge
of the dish, or, even worse, by the capsiz-
ing of the joint itself. A carver cannot be
! too careful never to make mess and if
| every dish has, as it should have, well,
there is no excuse for his doing so. A tiny
crust of bread put under one end of the
dish to cant it little, in the absence of a
gravy we'll is at the most ali that can he
pardoned in the way of disturbing the
equilibrium Of the dish.
Ii portion of the garnish of horse
radish is to 80 with each helping, it must
be dispensed with the points of the fork.
The gravy spoon should always be put in
vessel OF not water. and placed at the right
hand OF the dish, up to the moment OF
using. So essential, too, are hot plates to
perfect condition of roast meat, that
| second plate fer second helping is strongly
| to be advocated and for the same reason,
| though digniied calm should characterize