Worcester Democrat and the ledger-enterprise. (Pocomoke City, Md.) 1921-1953, 1926-10-02
AGRICULTURE

of Agriculture survey charges the A
merican housewife with lack Of knowl-
edge about. buying and cooking meat,
but sometimes it is not the house.
wife's fault that the piece of meat on
the plate is not as palatable as it
should be. J. H. Mercer, secretary of
the Kansas Livestock Association,
points out that poor carving can al
most ruin the best piece of beef, and
he also says that men generally do
not know much about carving.
But, to quote Miss Inez S. Wilson,
nationally known authority on the
subject, the men cannot be held en-
tirely to blame for this inefficiency
for, Miss Wilson argues, they lack
education in this particular art.
"To begin WITH" says Miss Wilson,
"good tools are absolutely essential
to good carving" She goes on to say
that knives should always be kept
sharp, but that they should never be
sharpened at the table. Two or, at
the most, three knives, and the fork
and steel are sufficient for the aver
age household. A large, thin, broad
bladed, round pointed knife is used
for carving steaks. A sharp pointed
knife of what is known as the French
pattern is best for general use in
carving joints of meat. Miss Wilson
suggests that the best fork, for the
novice, at least, is one with a steel
guard.
The knife should be applied to the
steel Immediately before using for
the edge becomes dull with standing.
This is the way to correctly use steel.
Hold the steel in your left hand,
the point raised and inclined slightly
toward your body. The knife is held
iii the right hand, point raised and in
clined slightly toward the left hand
at an angle about 35 degrees from
the steel. Draw the knife along the
side of the steel toward the hand and
from the handle end to the point of
the knife. The strokes being revers-
ed from side to side of the steel. The
touch should be light, for good steel
which has been thoroughly magnetic
ed, as it should be, cannot fail to do
it's work if contact with the knife is
really established. A half dozen
strokes will be sufficient unless the
knife is very much out of condition.
Miss Wilson continues with a few
brief instructions on the carving of
beef.
Steak is the simplest meat to carve.
1t is easier to carve if the. bone is
removed before cooking, but the steak
itself is harder to handle during cook
ing, and is less attractive. If the
bone is not removed, the carver should
first separate the meat from the bone
by cutting along the edge of the bone
with the point of the knife. Then
beginning with the wide or bone end
Of porterhouse steak or similar
steak, and following the grain, the
steak is cut int sections an inch or so
in width, depending on the number to
be served. A small piece of the ten
derloin and small piece of the wide
part is served to each one. The small
or flank end is less choice and is not
served unless it is necessary and then
it must not at all be served to one
person; the steak must be so divided
that each one gets some of the choice
part.
A standiny rib roast is placed on
platter with the ribs protruding to
the left of the carver. The carver
steadies the roast by thrusting the
fork into the thick center of the roast.
He then cuts very thin slices across
the grain of the meat until the knife
comes to the bones. When several
slices have been carved, the point OF
the knife is drawn along the edge of
the bone to separate the slices from
the ribs.
A rolled rib roast. is steadied by
firmly inserting the fork just below
tire slice that is next to be taken. The
roast should be held in place by cords
and only one cord should be cut at a
time as it is rachel in carving. This
keeps the roast in shape and pre-
serves the uniformity Of the slices,
and it also prevents the juices fron
running out. The cords should be
loosened with the fork and allowed to
fall back upon the platter, care being
taken that they do not fall upon the