Men Quitting as Carvers of Turkeys: Seen Sure Sign Women Becoming Head of Household
New York, Nov. 18 (UP) — It’s easy to tell whether a man still wears the pants in his family, a poultry expert said today. If he takes over and carves the Thanksgiving turkey, he’s still boss. Otherwise, he’s slipping.
C. Fred Smith, a traveling representative for the National Egg and Poultry Board said it’s a crime the way gents are abdicating.
“Our group took a national survey of carving habits,’’ Smith said, “we had a sneaky suspicion the men were losing their grip.’’ His statistics proved him grimly correct.
“We found that only 40 percent of American husbands even make a pass at carving any more,’’ Smith said, “most of them said they wanted their turkeys cut up out in the kitchen and served just like you’d get it in a restaurant. And half said they hadn’t seen a whole bird on their living room table since they were kids.’’
Smith said you can take that as a sure sign that American women have gone beyond achieving plain equality. “The acknowledged head of the house is the one who cuts up the poultry,’’ he said, “and a man who doesn’t even expect to be invited to do it has abdicated, that’s all.’’
Smith is opening a turkey carving school in Allentown, Penn., in hopes of giving men a chance at a comeback, but dismally concedes he has little faith in the project.
“It was announced a week ago,’’ he said,’’ and the registration for the course was running three women for every man.’’
Smith thinks most males abdicated their claim to the carving knife because no one ever told them how to conduct the operation.
“The average guy gets red faced and starts hacking,’’ Smith said.
“Most don’t even make an effort to see that everyone gets a little white and dark meat. They just chop away and dump whatever breaks off in the plate in front of them.’’
If you’d like your little woman to look at you with pride in her eyes when the turkey comes in, here are Smith’s main recommendations:
First allow the bird to stand in the roasting pan from 15 to 20 minutes after it’s done. This allows some of the juices to be absorbed and cuts down the possibility of haing to have the dining room re-papered.
Next, remove all cords and skewers used in the bird while cooking. If you start cutting the stays at the table, you’re very apt to blunt the carving knife.
The knife, incidentally, is the most important of all. “Refuse to go on with the act unless it’s sharp enough to shave a baby’s cheek,’’ Smith said, “you are licked if it’s not keen as a razor.’’
Next, Smith warned that a wise carver will never allow the little woman to trick up the turkey platter with a lot of cute garnishes.
“That’s the same as asking you to wear a blindfold,’’ he said.
And, lastly, keep carving until you have enough to serve all the guests — don’t carve and serve and carve again.
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com