How to carve a chicken tableside

To mark its 10th anniversary, the Gold Service Scholarship has produced a series of masterclasses in essential hospitality skills. Here Diego Masciaga offers a guide to carving roast chicken.

 

Mise en place

 

You do not need much: a good chopping board and a knife with a strong, solid blade because you will need to cut through joints.

 

Putting on a show

 

Remember you are not there for yourself, you are there for the guest and the guest will be looking at you, so the way you stand, the way you talk and the way you present yourself is extremely important.

 

The first thing we should do is to present the chicken to the guest and explain how it is prepared and how it is cooked.

 

Carving

 

I make sure hold my knife by the handle, not too close to the blade and the same for the fork. Your fingers must not go close to the tines otherwise after 30 seconds you fingers will be greasy and oily and that is unhygienic in front of the guest.

 

To start, I put my knife blade-down in the neck of the chicken and put the fork on the join of the leg, I then lift the chicken to drain the juices from the cavity before placing it on the chopping board.

 

With my knife still in the neck, I turn the chicken so the breast faces me. I place the fork facing upwards into the exposed leg. I use the knife to cut through the skin joining the leg to the breast and listen to the sound of the joint coming away. I then ease the leg away before cutting it clear.

 

The leg has two bones, one on the right and one on the left and a joint. That joint is just cartilage, so with your knife cut through the joint and place the two halves of the leg on to the plate.

 

Turn the chicken on its side with the breast facing the customer and repeat to remove the second leg.
Then move the chicken so the neck is facing you. Take your fork with the prongs facing down and put it in the bond above the chicken wing, being careful not to damage the breast meat. At this point your chicken should not move – make sure it is solid.

 

Cut through the little bit of fat at the top of the breast. Then with your knife, using no pressure, cut through the skin along both sides of the breastbone.

 

Cut through the meat along the same line to one side of the breastbone, stopping before you hit the wish bone. Then cut through the cartilage at the base of the breast to remove it. Repeat with the second breast. Trim the meat remaining on the carcass.

 

The oyster of the chicken is on the base at the back. It is dark meat but very tasty, so you should remove it and serve it.

 

Serving

 

You need to talk to the guest and find out if they would like brown meat or white meat.

 

If they would like some of each, you can cut the breast into slices. If you do this, slice the breast on an angle so you can serve it as a fan, which will allow the jus to sit nicely between the slices.

 

When you have sliced the breast you need to remove the chopping board from the service table, as the guests do not want to see this.

 

When plating I would put the meat on the bottom right of the plate, being careful not to put the fork into the meat, and the vegetables on the top right.

 

Ask the guest if they would like the sauce on the side or on the chicken. If they would like it on the chicken, place it very gently ensuring it does not go on the skin. I would suggest not serving too much sauce initially as you can always go back and ask if they would like a little more.

 

Watch all of the series

 

Diego Masciaga is a consultant in customer service former general manager of the Waterside Inn in Bray, Berkshire. See the rest of the masterclass videos here: thegoldservicescholarship.co.uk/masterclass-videos