VEAL
NATURE OF VEAL
1. Veal is the name applied to the flesh of a slaughtered calf. This kind of meat is at its best in animals that are from 6 weeks to 3 months old when killed. Calves younger than 6 weeks are sometimes slaughtered, but their meat is of poor quality and should be avoided. Meat from a calf that has not reached the age of 3 weeks is called bob veal. Such meat is pale, dry, tough, and indigestible and, consequently, unfit for food. In most states the laws strictly forbid the sale of bob veal for food, but constant vigilance must be exercised to safeguard the public from unscrupulous dealers. A calf that goes beyond the age of 3 months without being slaughtered must be kept and fattened until it reaches the age at which it can be profitably sold as beef, for it is too old to be used as veal.
2. The nature of veal can be more readily comprehended by comparing it with beef, the characteristics of which are now understood. Veal is lighter in color than beef, being more nearly pink than red, and it contains very little fat, as reference to Fig. 1, Meat, Part 1, will show. The tissues of veal contain less nutriment than those of beef, but they contain more gelatine. The flavor of veal is less pronounced than that of beef, the difference between the age of animals used for veal and those used for beef being responsible for this lack of flavor. These characteristics, as well as the difference in size of corresponding cuts, make it easy to distinguish veal from beef in the market.