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Posted on 12/25/2007 5:30:48 AM PST by COUNTrecount
For anyone who finds the very prospect of carving a turkey tomorrow brings them out in a sweat, help is at hand.
A 200-year-old book has recently been discovered detailing the traumas faced by the head of the table when preparing and carving the bird, and giving crucial advice on how to get it right and impress your guests.
It says manners and etiquette are vital, and the ability to carve with "ease and grace" gains great respect among fellow diners.
advertisementOn no account must the carver stand up while doing the deed, but must always have a chair high enough to do the job commandingly.
Any attempt to hack at the turkey will end in guests being "bespattered" and so should be avoided.
Choice cuts should always be handed out evenly around the table, unless people of a "superior rank" are present.
But it also reveals that turkey was not the most popular choice for Christmas dinner. It fell some way behind the favourites: a boiled cod's head or half a calf's head.
The 18th Century book, The Art of Carving, written in 1791 by Rev John Trusler, was found during a house clearance and sold by auctioneer Charles Hanson.
Mr Hanson said: "Manners, respect and simply doing things right were all the rage back then and were drilled into people in every aspect of their lives."
Mr Trusler was a prolific author whose eclectic output included everything from tips on gardening to commentaries on Hogarth engravings.
He included The Art of Carving as a lengthy appendix to The Honours of the Table, a manners guide for would-be gentlemen and ladies.
Mr Trusler was confident that "young folks unaccustomed to serving" would improve their social standing if they followed his tips.
That’s disgusting. Where’s that diner’s ‘couth?
His pinky fingers on both hands should be extended outward in a gesture of finesse and elegance as evidence of his mastery of refined dining manners.
It must have been wonderful to live like that, because people like that built the Great Work of Time, the Empire, and all it subsequent societies.
Now, it's getting the finger in traffic and being killed for crack.
Maybe it's just me getting old.
Merry Christmas.
Ah ... there's a Monty Python sketch in there someplace.
This just ain t that hard people!
Use a thin razor sharp carving knife and..
Use Method 2 for carving the breast
Merry Christmas!
ping
I was struck watching the 1938 version of "A Christmas Carol" yesterday when Dick exclaimed "Yes! Q.E.D.!"
How many of today's films or TV shows would get way with an unexplained, undiluted "Q.E.D." thrown right in the face of viewers? Not many.
It's a testament to the literacy of 1938 and of Dickens' own time that such a simple story could be told with that kind of finesse.
(ps - It goes without saying that only a handful of today's college juniors understand "Q.E.D." or when it might be employed).
I just rip the meat off the turkey with my rubber glove covered hands. Guests are presented with a platter of meat and miss all of the carnage in the kitchen.
I'd feel awkward asking for a cod piece at Christmas dinner.
L0L!
Use an ounce or so of C4 for simultaneous carving and serving. Guest can eat whatever they are "bespattered" with. Eye and ear protection are recommended.
Well, Quantum Electrodynamics confused the Dickens out of me.
And you should. A man without his own cod piece is no man at all.
LOL !
Well, I am old enough so we had Latin in (Public) high school. NOT that it was in everyday conversational use at the time-Honest.
Yuck! I'm glad I'm a vegetarian!
Cod Head... It's what's for dinner.
....I have an etiquette question.....should the turkey drumstick be eaten with the fingers?....or should the fingers be eaten separately.
rimshot!
....actually we’re avoiding the whole turkey thing.....my wife is putting on a Dove & Sausage gumbo as we speak.
Merry Christmas and God Bless Us Every One!
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