Etiquette Advice for Carving Turkey

The knife should be thin-bladed, pointed and well sharpened. The fork should be a strong, long- handled, 2-tined instrument. A steel for maintaining the keen edge of the knife should be included. The spoon to serve the dressing should have a long handle.

Chef Tells How To Carve Your Thanksgiving Bird

Carving the Thanksgiving turkey can be transformed from an arduous ordeal, fraught with many embarrassing hazards, into a consummate work of art that will arouse the envious admiration of all who observe, simply by following a few simple rules. Etiquette and good form dictate that the Thanksgiving bird be carved at the table, not in the kitchen, but all too often father hesitates to tempt the fates by risking a session before the platted in full public view, particularly if there are guests at the holiday dinner.

There is, however, something irresistibly inviting in watching a skilled carver guide a keen-edge knife through the yielding joints and tender flesh of a well-cooked Thanksgiving turkey, and the savory aroma of a bird taken directly from the roasting oven to the table works wonders with appetites. For the benefit of those readers whose efforts to acquire a technique in dismembering the carcass of a tasty gobbler have left them more or less physically helpless and mentally hopeless, John Nieder, United Air Lines chef, has prepared a few simple pointers on how to do it without exertion or violence. They follow:

• Proper tools are the first requirement. The knife should be thin-bladed, pointed and well sharpened. The fork should be a strong, long- handled, 2-tined instrument. A steel for maintaining the keen edge of the knife should be included. The spoon to serve the dressing should have a long handle.

• Use a platter large enough to provide space for the turkey and also for the carved portions until it is time to serve them. Garnish should be kept to a minimum as an aid to the carver. A few large crisp sprigs of parsley, and chop holders for the drum-sticks are all that is necessary.

• It must be assumed that the bird is properly cooked. Overcooking handicaps the carver for the meat that falls off the bones cannot be sliced attractively.

• Place the bird breast up on the platter, with the legs to the right and the neck to the left of the carver. Plates, glasses, and dishes should be placed well out of the way.

• Each piece of turkey as it is carved is laid on the platter's edge with the most attractive side up. No one is served until enough has been cut to serve each guest, with a little to spare. – Southwest Wave, November 1939

🍽Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia