CARVING MEAT.

Timaru Herald, Volume XXVII, Issue 1897, 28 November 1877, Page 4

CARVING MEAT.

■ (Queen.) : The complaint proverbially urged by incompetent workers against their tools should tie' at least rendered unjustifiable by ev^iy good housewife, with regard to 'carving knives ' and forks. These it is 'absolutely essential should be m first-rate ' order at : all times,' if .she would not have legq'of mutton'-haclted likebillets of wpod,j or. herf'.cliicke'ns tprn and mangled as • ffiough they' had teen subjected, to a rail- ■ way Occident. The edge of the knife ' must '•"■ he of p'teternahirally. dangerous sharpness, and 'the f oik must not have been r uged too' persistently as an im^ prpmptu instrument for the . extraction of recalcitrant corks. ' Bright, straight; sharp-pointed prong's, and keen-edged 'flashing, blades,. ' are indispensable for : good' earvipgfl 1 . Personally, I have a pre-| f erencß r f or ' ! buckhorn handles, silvar 'Douiidl' arid clamped— -the ;■ round form,! slight .curve,' and'rather rough surface 'cdmmori'td theih, affording ; a grip ahdj .purchase absent froni the ordinary straight' 'bevel-edged' ones of ivory or bone. Bearing 'these facts m mind, and remembering I 'that for carving joints the^handles of the; ; knife' 'and fork are to; be short and the ', Wades' and prphgs long, and; that 'fpr! J ganie and poultry the vefy reverse; of this; ; is necessary,.' greater firninesa of the^blade ; and pdiKt iii' the latter case being requi-J 'site,' little further need be said here con-: "cebningthe carver's, tools. So, adopting the principle ' which governed us when treating 1 of the' 'carving of fish, we will, 'will 'begin with these joints genetically; known as -."The. Roast Beef of . Old 'England^' '' , .' . : ' Firafj' then, for the sirloin, that noble .and' unequalled specimen of bovine produ6tion/indigenous' to our island. The "fillet ,o'i*' undercut from this, joint , being better 1 when eaten .hof rather! Jth'iH f: pbW, T '' l sh'6uld generally claim the; 'ca'rVer'^ attention. ,' It niust be cut trans-; 'Tersely into thick 'slices, like a tongue ;! "aa'algo should. be] 'the; fat at the thiniier| ; endy a "portion of which should go with slice of lean ; from the thicker. .'Of, 'course the, jbjut miist : be turned over, to; 'enable the carver to get at it conveniently, • and; iccording'.lb the nnmbor of persons' ;to' be' helped no should cu^ so many slices; ■tfonfti 1 before sotting the ; bone up m. its: 'proper pbsition again. ■' By this means he : tcanj ; Tfheh helpirjg ; from the main bulk of' •the-' joint, give : a portion of the fillet to ( each, i: without having constantly to turn thb jbirit from oiie . 'side , tp the other, '-Ndw^'-.at' tinie^sdniW people prefer that; ; b<Ali ; tipper atifi t 'uh4er .side of a sirloin; •'shbuldrbe cut alike— that is,' transversely • ttli -atfd,i' 'though .'gen'erall^ considered aii • ■eifeaV^ant'Way, it is-tiot ll withcmt ite i ad.-; 'tjiß chief of 'ihe^senotably being ' •that *^ach £ slice; has; Hm'' eg' u'alisation of ; fe?own l< ana''iuicy;"nißat^- ; -there being, s6 to 1 : Bj[>fcak ! J ( no ' oti tsido' cut; each h elp havintfi(i)in l a sectiohi ; brown' and underdone in 1 the samy ! slice: o 'A pießeof the fat frofa -th^ flap' ot 1 lower°end 6f ifie' joint inxist', &Jco'mpiin^'. every ; portioh,.'as m 'tfo case '6f ! thefijlet, and itshould be te>i6omb'efedFthsat"iheße' tv^p'sortsjof^ [hi .'ftfce >St^ 'diffettnt' in l quality , :' 'the : undter^ or fifl6(j, :! \}einjgof a. far' iri'ore' juicy,' delicate, and- tender quality * than :we npper. lespecially ' 'when ' hot. ' The upper, howeverj: accompaiiied as it is by the crackly

edge of skin, if we choose to call it so, is exceedingly torthsome, with a flavor peculiarly its own, higly prized by tho Briton. The ordinary plan of carving the sirloin, however, recommends itself to most housewives as the better, from the fact that lean and fat go together necessarily with each slice. It is generally advised that, before slices are cut, the point of the knife should be inserted a short distance between the meat and the bone, both of the chine (or short upright bone) and the rib (or long bone). Then the knifo has but to be passed dexterously 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 m this instance, get the brown or well-done outside, and those latter on the under-done or juicy. Therefore it is always necessary for the carver, b.a an act of common civility, to ask those whom he is helping whether their preference be for well or underdone. Slices of roast beef from the upper side cannot well be cut too thin, when carved m what I call the ordinary fashion, except peahaps the first or outside slice, which admits from its crispness, of having a little 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 m fact no real facility is afforded by doing so, for, if the carver does but stretch his arms out far enough to bring his right hand and wrist well above the joint, he will find that by holding the kife almost perpendicularly, he has, with the support from the fork, all the purchase necessary. During all pauses m the carving, the knife and fork should be placed on the knife rests, and never thrust and left under the joint ; nor, while the carver adds the gravy to the plate of meat m front of him, with the spoon m his right hand, is it right for him to hold both knife and fork m a bunch, as it were, m his left. To do this cives a slovenly, hasty, eating-house sort of effect to the process, especially if, at the same time, the dish be tilted with the left hand, for the easier filling of the spoon. This is always an inelegant proceeding, calculated to endanser the purity of the table cloth, by the sluicing of the gravy over the edge of the dish, or, even worse, by the capsizing of the joint itself. A carver cannot be too careful never to make a mess ; and if every meat dish has, as it should have, a well, there is no excuse for his doing so. A tiny crust of bread put under one end of the dish to cant it a little, m the absence of a gravy well, is at the most all that can be pardoned m the way of disturbing the equilibrium of the dish. If a poition of the garnish of horse-radish is to go with each helping, it must be dispensed with the points of tho fork. The gravy spoon should always be put m a vessel of hot water, and placed at at the right hand of the dish, up to the moment of using. So essential, too, are hot plates to a perfect condition of roast meat, that a second plate for a second helping is strongly to be advocated ; and for the same reason, though a dignified calm should characterise the carver's behavior, there should be, on the other hnnd, no approach to dawdling. Attention to simple details like these distinguishes the good from the bad carver, and renders the execution of his or her task rather a graceful act than otherwise. In carving the sirloin and other ribbed joints, a too pliant blade is not desirable. When, however, we are dealing with a round of beef lying flat before us, or the boiled silver side, or a piece of roast so-called boned beef, the knife cannot well be too yielding, nor, again, the slices cut too thin. Never either omit with these sort of joints, where one has to' cut directly towards the fork, to raise his finger guard, for, if the knife slip, it will run straight up over the bow of the prongs, to the imminent peril of the carver's hand. For, of course, m manipulating a piece of meat with the surface to be cut out lying uppermost, the left or fork hand is higher than the right or knife hand — nearly the reverse of the position necessary m carving a joint standing upright; In this case ,the knife is held nearly perpendicularly, the fork nearly horizontally — just, indeed, the contrary to the manner of using the tools- for a flat joint. These are hot difficult joints to carve, if it be always remembered that a knife with a thin plian t blade is absolutely necessary. Of course a delicate morsel of the fat must go with each serving.' The brisket of beef is not a joint very usually to be met with ; but it has its merits^ and has only to be cut neatly across the. bones, .to prevent its having a jagged,' untidy look on its appearance at table. , .What, has been said concerning .the carving of the sirloin of beef applies m all respects to the carving of the ribs, except that, these having.no undercut, the carver's task is thus rendered less diversified. The beef tongue must likewise be carved precisely upon the same principles as the : sirloin, when that joint, is cut transversely, like its fillat ; the fat at the roof of the tongue of course, not being overlooked. —D.Q.P.