The first piece may be taken off in the direction of a b, by putting in the trowel at the back or thick part of the fish, and the rest in successive order. A small part of the sound should be given with each slice, and will be found close to the back-bone, by raising the thin flap d. It is known by being darker coloured and more transparent than the other parts of the fish. Almost every part of a cod’s head is considered good; the palate, the tongue, the jelly, and firm parts, e e, upon and immediately around the jaw and bones of the head, are considered as delicate eating by many persons.

Fig. 2.

A boiled fowl has the legs bent inward (see [fig. 2]), and fastened to the sides by a skewer, which is removed before the fowl is sent to table. A roasted fowl should not have any part of the legs cut off, as in the boiled fowl; but after they have been properly scraped and washed, they are drawn together at the very extremity of the breast. A boiled and a roasted fowl are each carved in the same manner. The wings are taken off in the direction of a to b ([fig. 2]). Your knife must divide the joint, but afterward you have only to take firm hold of the pinion with your fork, draw the wings towards the legs, and you will find that the muscles separate better than if you cut them with your knife. Slip your knife between the leg and the body, and cut to the bone, then with the fork turn the leg back, and, if the fowl be not a very old one, the joints will give way.

Fig. 3.

After the four quarters are thus removed, enter the knife at the breast, in the direction c d ([fig. 3]), and you will separate the merrythought from the breast-bone; and by placing your knife under it, lift it up, pressing it backward on the dish, and you will easily remove that bone. The collar-bones, e e, lie on each side the merrythought, and are to be lifted up at the broad end, by the knife, and forced towards the breast-bone, till the part which is fastened to it breaks off. The breast is next to be separated from the carcass, by cutting through the ribs on each side, from one end of the fowl to the other. The back is then laid upward, and the knife passed firmly across it, near the middle, while the fork lifts up the other end. The side bone are lastly to be separated; to do which turn the back from you, and on each side the back-bone, in the direction of g g ([fig. 4]), you will find a joint, which you must separate, and the cutting up of the fowl will be complete.

Fig. 4.

Ducks and partridges are to be cut up in the same manner; in the latter, however, the merrythought is seldom separated from the breast, unless the birds are very large.