Page:A New System of Domestic Cookery (1824 edition).pdf/62

lii give it a little turn inwards at the joint; which you must endeavour to hit, and not to break by force. When both legs are taken off, there is a fine collop on each side the back; then divide the back into as many pieces as you please, and take off the shoulders, which are by many preferred, and are called the sportsman's pieces. When every one is helped, cut off the head; put your knife between the upper and lower jaw, and divide them, which will enable you to lay the upper flat on your plate; then put the point of the knife into the centre, and cut the head into two. The ears and brains may be helped then to those who like them.

Carve Rabbits as directed the latter way for hare; cutting the back into two pieces, which with the legs are the prime.

A Fowl.—A boiled fowl's legs are bent inwards, and tucked into the belly; but before it is served, the skewers are to be removed. Lay the fowl on your plat; and place the joints, as cut off, on the dish. Take the wing off in the direction of a to b, in the annexed engraving, only dividing the joint with your knife; and then with your fork lift up the pinion, and draw the wing towards the legs, and the muscles will separate in a more complete form than if cut. Slip the knife between the leg and body, and cut to the bone; then with the fork turn the leg back, and the joint will give way if the bird is not old. When the four quarters are thus removed, take off the merrythought from a, and the neck-bones; these last by putting in the knife at c, and pressing it under the long broad part of the bone in the line c, b: then lift it up, and break it off from the part that sticks to the breast. The next thing is, to divide the breast