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Poultry and Game (Require all the art)

1288. Poultry and game require all the art of the experienced carver to do justice to them, inasmuch as they may be made to look extremely, inviting if nicely separated, or they may be hacked to pieces by the bad manager of the carving-knive. One of the chief advantages of the present fashionable method of serving a dinner consists in the avoidance of this mistake, which is alike annoying to the giver of a good dinner and to the guests. The mistress cannot always allot the task to a person who is skilful at this craft, and, if the reverse takes place, she is annoyed at his bungling for his sake as well as her own. As far as possible, the fork should only be inserted once, and not continually driven in, and then removed to try a fresh place. This constant stabbing disfigures the bird, and looks awkward and unsightly in the carver, besides which it is seldom or never necessary. The following special directions may assist the young carver, but nothing short of actual observation and trial will make him accomplished in the art. TURKEY. 1289. A roast or boiled turkey may be made to serve a great number of people if carved with judgment, or it may be used so extravagantly as to be expended before half the guests have been served. A sharp knife should be passed clearly down to the bone, almost close to the wing, and then a thin slice is taken out from between this and the breast, continuing the same plan until the whole side is exhausted, after which the other side is served in the same way. A portion of the force-meat is also placed in each plate; and, if there are sausages or balls, a part of each of them. When both sides of the breast are used up, and the party are not all served, the legs must be taken off by carrying the knife backward between them and the body, until it is stopped by the joint, when by means of the fork stuck in the leg it is severed from the body, the knife completing the removal by its edge. If possible, however, the carver should endeavour to avoid having recourse to the legs; and it is usually either a reproach upon the mistress for not procuring a sufficiently large bird, or upon his own powers of carving, if such an expedient is unavoidable. In dividing the leg into its two portions, the knife should be used against the inside of the joint, where it enters with much less difficulty than on the outside. After this, in a large bird, the meat is cut off in sections for serving.

CHICKEN. 1290. The roast or boiled chicken, when carved hot, is generally cut into separate joints, consisting of 1st, the wings; 2nd, the legs; 3rd, the merrythought; 4th, the neck-bones; 5th, the breast; 6th, the back and its side-bones; 7th, the neck. But, excepting for family use, it is seldom customary to use more than the wings, merrythought, and breast, or sometimes in addition the legs. The plan of proceeding is, to stick the fork into the breast firmly, then draw the knife steadily along the line between the leg and body, continuing it forward until it has separated a slice of the breast with the wing-bone. If the carver is dexterous, he hits the joint at once; and some can remove a wing as if there were no bone at all, the art consisting in guessing at the exact situation of the joint. As soon as the two wings are removed, the knife is carried down in front of the breast-