Pork
ROAST PIG.
This is sometimes partly divided before
serving. Cut off the head and divide it through
the middle; then divide through the backbone.
Place it on the platter back to back, with half
the head on each end of the dish.
If the pig be very young, it is in better style
to serve it whole. Before cooking, truss the
forelegs forward and the hind legs backward. Place
the pig on the platter with the head at the left.
Cut off the head, separating the neck-joint with
the point of the knife, then cut through the flesh
on either side. Take off the shoulders by cutting
in a circle from under the foreleg round nearly to
the backbone and down again. Bend it forward and
cut through the joint. Cut off the hams in the
same way. Then split the backbone the entire
length and divide between each rib. Cut slices
from the thickest part of the hams and the
shoulders. The ribs are the choice portion, but
those who like it at all consider any part of it a
delicacy.
HAM.
If the ham is not to be served whole, the
simplest and most economical way is to begin near
the smaller end and cut in very thin slices, on
each side of the bone. Divide the slices and
arrange them neatly on the dish, one lapping over
another, with the fat edge outside.
Where the whole ham is to appear on the table
it should be trimmed neatly, and the end of the
bone covered with a paper ruffle. The thickest
part should be on the further side of the platter.
Make an incision through the thickest part, a
little way from the smaller end. Shave off in very
thin slices, cutting toward the larger end and
down to the bone at every slice. The knife should
be very sharp to make a clean cut, and each slice
should have a portion of the fat with the crisp
crust. To serve it hot a second day, fill the
cavity with a bread stuffing, cover it with
buttered crumbs, and brown it in the oven. If it
is to be served cold, brown the crumbs first and
then sprinkle them over the stuffing. If this be
done the edges will not dry and the symmetry of
the ham is preserved. Carve as before, toward the
larger end, and if more be needed, cut also from
the other side of the bone.
By filling the cavity again with stuffing, a
ham may be served as a whole one the third time
and look as inviting as when first served. Should
there be two or three inches of the thickest end
left for another serving, saw off the bone, lay
the meat flesh side up, with the fat on the
further side of the platter, and carve
horizontally in thin slices.
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