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Home » Meat » Veal

Veal

Veal is the meat of young calves.Cows have to calf regularly in order to keep up milk production. Female calves are valuable, as they can grow up to be milkers. Male calves, however, don’t have much value when they grow up except for the odd ones kept for breeding purposes; consequently it is mostly male calves that are used for Veal.

The calves are slaughtered when they are 18 to 20 weeks old. To keep Veal light in colour, the amount of iron in the calves’ diets is controlled. Most Veal is “milk-fed”: they are fed a nutrient-rich milk (derived from milk by-products such as whey), which costs about 10 times more than grain, thus the higher price of Veal compared to beef.

There has been a perception that the production of veal involves cruelty, particularly on the European continent, because there the calves movement may be restricted to help keep the flesh white.

British-raised Veal will tend to be more naturally raised — without the movement or milk-only restrictions. The veal will be a deeper-pink tone if the calves have not been exclusively milk fed.

Because of the bad rap about animal cruelty that Veal got, some marketers have toyed with the idea of calling it “baby beef.”

Veal is not aged, except for what aging it undergoes during shipping, as there is not enough fat in it to protect the meat to allow aging much beyond that.

Provimi Veal is very expensive. The calves undergo a special rearing process of being fed milk, protein, vitamins and mineral supplements. The name Provimi comes from that: protein, vitamins, minerals.

Cooking Tips

Cooked Veal is more similar in taste and texture to pork than it is to beef. Unlike pork, however, it can be served medium-rare.

Substitutes

Boneless pork chops pounded thin.

History Notes

In dairy farming, new female calves were always welcome, as they would become milk producers. But the males were unneeded — so Veal evolved.

The Roman food writer, Apicius, lists a recipe for fried Veal (Vitellina Fricta) in chapter 8 of his cookbook, “de re Coquinaria.”

The Dutch developed milk-fed Veal.

Language Notes

The English word “veal” comes from the French word, “veau.”

Sources

Clay, Xanthe. Veal back on the menu, minus the guilt. London: Daily Telegraph. 23 July 2010.

Related entries

Other names

Latin: Vitellina
Italian: Vitello
French: Veau
German: Kalbfleisch
Dutch: Kalf
Spanish: Ternera
Portuguese: Vitela

This page first published: Nov 1, 2003 · Updated: Jun 17, 2020.

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