Every home should have its trancheur, some member of the family who takes a real interest and pride in carving, for wherever good food is served someone has to carve. You can't get away from it. And as it is traditionally a man's job, I think that the education of young men in the home should be considered incomplete if it does not include this fine and ancient art. Boys should be taught by the father to handle the carving tools as soon as they are old enough to be interested, and the earlier the better.
When I was a boy at home I was eager to learn to carve, especially after I decided I wanted to train to be a chef. But, because I was left-handed, I was not permitted to even handle the knives. In France there was a kind of old-wives' tale that a left-handed person always cut himself when carving, and that was held against me. Of course, it isn't true, and we left-handers could say the same about right-handed people. As a matter of fact, it was because of this that I became ambidextrous, that being the easiest way to get around the problem,
I had one uncle sympathetic to my interest who gave me my first lessons. He was the uncle who had stayed at home with grandpère to run the farm and he was an excellent carver, perhaps because he knew the anatomy of birds and animals, but more likely because he took such great pride in his skill. There were many big dinners at which I saw him officiate, for there were always about twenty or twenty-five of our family gathered at grandpère's farm for holiday dinners. I always asked to sit next to my uncle, who would explain to me, as he cut into a bird or sliced a piece of meat, what he was doing and why. And usually he would whisper sly little jokes in my ear, like “Shall we give that sour-faced brother-in-law of mine a really tough piece?” or “I suppose you want to give the best of this bird to tante Catherine.” (Tante Catherine, then in her teens, being the youngest in that large family of aunts and uncles, was known to be my favorite.) Sitting next to him and taking an interest in carving had other advantages too, such as getting some pretty choice bits on my plate and being conveniently close for a second helping the minute I finished my first.
In the early days of the old New York Ritz all the carving was done in the dining room in front of the guests. Sometimes one of them would even ask to take over the knife: among the distinguished gourmets who frequented the Ri(z there were many expert carvers who were very proud of their skill. And that is as it should be—carving is indeed a skill to be proud of.
To really show off your skill as a trancheur there is nothing, I suppose, that quite does the trick like carving a bird (see November, 1954). Especially a big one with large breasts from which you can slice off slim, well-shaped pieces and establish your prowess. But don't forget that carving a ham or a leg of lamb is a real art too. Both are frequently cooked at home, yet how often we see them inexpertly hacked into unattractive pieces (to say nothing of the waste resulting from poorly carved meat), liven a steak, which is a simple job, is not always carved well. Hut it can be done so that there is hardly a scrap of meat left on the bone, the meat itself is evenly distributed and the plates immediately look more savory and appetizing.
In some homes the carving is done in the kitchen and arranged on a platter which is then brought to the table. The only advantage in this—except for saving embarrassment if the carver is awkward—is that you can have a big board to work on. But the advantages of carving in the dining room arc many. In the first place, your piece de resistance looks so much more important when it appears whole before your guests. Then the food itself is served with the heat of the oven still in it, each piece-obviously juicy and succulent. Finally, the host gets a chance to show off his hobby and has the pleasure of being rewarded by the admiration of his guests.
“A good workman is known by his tools,” I learned that also from' my uncle in my early years. Whether it was the scythe he used in the fields or the knives to carve a holiday goose, he gave them the same loving care. A good workman really loves his tools. He loves to run his fingers carefully over the edge of a cutting tool, feeling the smooth, firm line of the edge, searching for any small roughness that may have been left after the final run-over of the whetting stone or steel.
So if you arc to be the trancheur in your home, look to your tools. Choose them yourself and take good care of them. You will need not just one but several knives, and a good steel for the continual whetting they require: The knives must always be kept in condition with the steel, and should be sharpened occasionally by a professional. The minimum of necessary tools includes firm, pointed knives in two or three lengths and at least one long, straight knife with a thin, flexible blade that has a rounded end for slicing. A couple of forks, a small one with a finger guard for roasts, should also be in your kit.
Before going into the directions for carving the various cuts of meats, there ate a few general rules that I want to cull to your attention. Always warm the platter on which the meat is to be placed and the plates on which it is to be served. Never crowd the serving platter with garnishes that will get in the way of the carver. Time the roasting to allow 15 to 20 minutes for the meat to Stand after it is out of the oven and before it is carved. This allows it to reposer, or rest, during which time the juices settle back into the tissues. You will find that the slices of meat will be more succulent, especially if the meat has been roasted to the rare stage, because less juice will run out on the platter when the meat is cut. Broiled meats, on the other hand, should be served as soon as possible after leaving the broiler. And when serving roast or broiled meat, always spoon some of the juice from the platter onto the slices.
Rib Roast of Beef
Set the roast on the platter with the flat, meaty side on the dish: Do not rest it on the bone ends as it did in the oven. The bony side should be on the left and toward you, the rounded, meaty side toward the right. Using a long flexible knife, slice horizontally across the top from the outside edge toward (he bone. Cut with long even strokes to give slices of meat as wide as tie roast, curving the knife upwards to cut the slice away from the bone. The thickness of the slice depends upon individual preference. Some people, (he English for example, prefer two thin slices to one thick one, slices that arc sometimes no thicker than 1/8 of an itch. Others, particularly Americans, arc apt to ask for one good thick slice. Those who prefer well-done beef are served the first slices. As soon as enough slices have been removed to expose the first bone, cut it away, lay it on the side of the platter, and start slicing against the next bone.
Filet of Beef
Place the filet on a board and, using a medium-sized, firm knife, cut vertically against the grain in slices ¼ to ½ inch thick. Serve 2 slices to each person.
Sirloin Steak(2 ½ to 3 inches thick)
Using a medium-sized, firm knife, cut diagonally across the grain slanting the knife to make a larger surface on each slice and cut the slices ½ to ¾ inch thick.
Porterhouse Steak
Using the point of a medium-sized, firm knife, detach the meat from the bone to release both the sirloin section and the tenderloin section. Cut each section into pieces about I inch or more wide. Serve a piece of each section to each person.
Smoked Ox Tongue
In the kitchen remove the skin from the tongue and cur away the root, which is tough and has a number of tiny bones in it. Then, using a medium knife, start at the tip end of the tongue and cut it diagonally into thin slices 1/8 to ¼ inch thick.
Roast Leg of Lamb or Venison
Place the roast on the platter with the side where the meat is thickest on the top. Using a long, flexible knife, start cutting at the shank end. Make the first cut about 1 ½ inches from where the meat starts on the bone and ait out a tiny, curved chunk. Slice the meat parallel to this cur. using a curving stroke and working up the leg to give increasingly large slices that are thin and rounded. When the thick side is finished, turn the leg over and cut the other side in slices parallel to the bone.
Rack of Lamb or Veal
Place the rack on the platter with the ends of the rib hones standing up. Using a large, firm knife, cut down vertically between the bones carving the rack into pieces either one or two chops thick, as preferred.
Saddle of Lamb or Venison
Place the meat on the platter so that the cross piece of the T-bone rests horizontally on the dish and the stem of the T points up vertically. Using the point of a firm knife, make a long cut from the top of the saddle down its entire length, loosening the meat from the bone. Then cut the entire length of the saddle in one stroke, using a long, flexible knife. Start at the top and slice horizontally from the outside toward, and at right angles to the bone, making 10 or 12 very thin slices. Turn the platter and repeat on the other side of the center bone. Serve two or three slices to each person. The saddle should never be sliced vertically like a rack of lamb.
Ham
Look at the ham carefully and select the place where the meat is thinnest between skin and bone. Then perch the ham on the platter thinside down, so that the side where the meat is thickest will be uppermost. (A ham is very slippery, and a three pronged base to keep it steady is a great help.) Trim off the surplus fat and any skin that hasn't already been removed: Save enough fat to spread over the exposed surface of the ham when you have finished carving so that the meat won't dry out before it is carved again.
Holding the shank bone in your left hand and using a long flexible knife, cut into the meat about 4 inches from the spot where the skin ends on the shank. Remove a 3-inch piece of meat, curving it out to within 1 inch of where the skin ends on the shank. The piece that comes out should be curved on the cut side, leaving a concave surface where it is removed. Following this curve, slice off thin pieces and work up the ham evenly and neatly. The meat lie-comes wider as you continue up the ham and the slices will, therefore, be larger. They will have a curved appearance as you cut them, but will flatten out as you lay them on the plate. Two or three thin slices are more desirable than one thick one. The underside can be carved parallel to the bone, like a leg of lamb. The remainder of the meat and the chunk cut away at the beginning should be used for julienne of meat for salads or for any dish in which chopped ham is used.
Vol au Vent de Ris de Veau
Vol mean flight, and ris means laugh. Vent mean wind, and veau means calf. Put them together and what do they spell?
Sweetbreads of veal in a patty shell!