The fat of this meat is like mutton, apt to cool soon, and become hard and disagreeable to the palate; it should, therefore, be served always on warm plates, and the platter kept over a hot-water dish, or spirit lamp.  Many cooks dish it up with a white paper frill pinned around the knuckle bone.

A haunch of mutton is carved the same as a haunch of venison.

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TURKEY.

A turkey having been relieved from strings and skewers used in trussing should be placed on the table with the head or neck at the carver’s right hand.  An expert carver places the fork in the turkey, and does not remove it until the whole is divided.  First insert the fork firmly in the lower part of the breast, just forward of fig. 2, then sever the legs and wings on both sides, if the whole is to be carved, cutting neatly through the joint next to the body, letting these parts lie on the platter.  Next, cut downward from the breast from 2 to 3, as many even slices of the white meat as may be desired, placing the pieces neatly on one side of the platter.  Now unjoint the legs and wings at the middle joint, which can be done very skillfully by a little practice.  Make an opening into the cavity of the turkey for dipping out the inside dressing, by cutting a piece from the rear part 1, 1, called the apron.  Consult the tastes of the guests as to which part is preferred; if no choice is expressed, serve a portion of both light and dark meat.  One of the most delicate parts of the turkey are two little muscles, lying in small dish-like cavities on each side of the back, a little behind the leg attachments; the next most delicate meat fills the cavities in the neck bone, and next to this, that on the second joints.  The lower part of the leg (or drumstick, as it is called) being hard, tough and stringy, is rarely ever helped to any one, but allowed to remain on the dish.

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ROAST GOOSE.

To carve a goose, first begin by separating the leg from the body, by putting the fork into the small end of the limb, pressing it closely to the body, then passing the knife under at 2, and turning the leg back as you cut through the joint.  To take off the wing, insert the fork in the small end of the pinion, and press it close to the body; put the knife in at fig. 1, and divide the joint.  When the legs and wings are off, the breast may be carved in long, even slices, as represented in the lines from 1 to 2.  The back and lower side bones, as well as the two lower side bones by the wing, may be cut off; but the best pieces of the goose are the breast and thighs, after being separated from the drumsticks.  Serve a little of the dressing from the inside, by making a circular slice in the apron at fig. 3.  A goose should never be over a year old; a tough goose is very difficult to carve, and certainly most difficult to eat.

FOWLS.