360 THE BEGINNER IN POULTRY 



what between the ribs at the backbone, far up. This is 

 the whole operation of "drawing." It is easily learned, 

 the chief point being the use of care not to cut the en- 

 trails. The liver is now cut free from the green gall 

 bag, the gizzard split at the thick end and laid open. A 

 few trials are the only thing to teach one not to cut too 

 deep ; that is, so deep as to lay open the rough sac of 

 tough, inner membrane containing the waste. This should 

 come away entire, with its partly digested contents. 

 Scraping of the inner surface of the gizzard and of the 

 outer skin of the fowl make the meat ready for careful 

 washing. Some cooks commit the error of soaking the 

 drawn and dismembered fowl for several hours. Nothing 

 could more surely impair its flavor. It should be washed 

 and scraped as rapidly as possible, drained, covered, and 

 set away dry till ready for cooking. 



In another method of drawing, after the crop has 

 been removed, a sharp knife is drawn the length of the 

 back, just at one side the spinal column, the cut being 

 made through the bones only, which are thin at this 

 point, and, in young fowls, soft. A few trials will show 

 how deep to cut. The carcass can then be laid open 

 the full length, as a book is opened, and the worker can 

 see to remove all the contents of the body cavity. When 

 sufficient skill is attained, this is the quickest method 

 known, I believe. 



For the Head of the Table who would learn to carve 

 skillfully and with ease, there is no other aid equal to 

 practice in disjointing an uncooked fowl. A young bird 

 is better for the first practice work, because all the joints 

 and cartilages are soft, and cut, as the saying goes, 

 " like cheese." There is a gristly point in each joint, 



