The cook usually divides the body before it is sent to the table, and garnishes the dish with the jaws and ears. The first thing is to separate the shoulder from the carcass on one side, and then the leg, according to the direction given by the dotted line a, b, c. The ribs are then to be divided into about two helpings, and an ear or jaw presented with them, and plenty of sauce. The joints may either be divided into two each, or pieces may be cut from them. The ribs are reckoned the finest part, but some people prefer the neck, and between the shoulders.
9. Half a Calf’s Head, boiled.
Be careful and get a young one, as they look much handsomer served up, and besides are more tender. First cut in the direction c, b. The throat bread is considered the choicest part; it lies in the fleshy portion, near the termination of the jaw-bone, and the line c, d, shows the direction to cut into it. On the under part of the lower jaw there is some very nice meat; and about the ear, g, some fat rather gristly, but highly esteemed. The part near the neck is very inferior. Sometimes the bone in the line f, e, is cut off, but this is a coarse part. The sweet tooth is quite a delicacy—it lies back of all the rest, and, in a young calf, is easily extracted with the knife. Many like the eye, which you must cut out with the point of your knife, and divide in two. Under the head is the palate, which is reckoned a nicety.
A leg of wether mutton, (which is best flavored) may be known at the market by a round lump of fat at the edge of the broadest part, a little above the letter a. The best part is midway between the knuckle and farther end. Begin to help there, by cutting thin slices to b. If the outside is not fat enough, help some from the side at the broad end, in slices from e to f. This part is most juicy, but many prefer the knuckle, which, in fine mutton, will be very tender, though dry. There are very fine slices in the back of the leg—turn it up, and cut the broad end, not in the direction you did the other side, but lengthwise. To cut out the cramp bone, take hold of the shank (which should be previously wound round with half a sheet of fool’s-cap paper) with your left hand, and cut down to the thigh bone at g, then pass the knife under the cramp bone, in the direction g, d.
