Angus Veal is Real!

Veal in the US is traditionally from Holstein cattle due to the fact that it is primarily the male offspring that aren't usable on the dairy farm. The Holstein can be raised as beef and this is done often but the meat quality is not as desired as from other "meat" breeds such as Angus or Charolais.

About three weeks ago we had the chance to break down an entire veal carcass in class. Chef Soileau purchased it from Hackett Farm, Salt Point NY. It was unique in that it wasn't the typical Holstein veal that we find in most markets, its was from Angus. The idea of taking a higher quality meat breed and harvesting it much younger enabled us to compare these veal. The carcass was a true milk fed product and the calf had been feeding on real milk for its early life but had started to eat some pasture. It was about 4 1/2 months old and weighed about 225 for the cleaned carcass, which is smaller than most of the veal that is found in the commercial marketplace today.

Chef Dave Kamen divided the carcass into the primal cuts and then my class turned everything into roasts , stew, cutlets, chops and grind. We left the breast whole for stuffing.

The color was a little more red than most veal we get but the conformation was very good. The Angus traits could be seen in the nice oval chops. We had aged it for about 8 days so it was nice and firm when we cut it. Most veal is packed about a day after slaughter and it never gets a chance to set up properly. The aging improved its flavor. When I called Chef Soileau about what he thought of it he said " Oh Man! Butter! Best ever! "

Don't expect the veal industry to jump on this band wagon though. Angus calves are very costly as a feeder stock and it may not make economic sense to raise Angus for veal but it was a delight to see this meat and taste the end result.

Veal, Milk and Money

These are hard times for NY dairy farmers. Milk prices remain historically low when accounting for inflation. Small, mid-sized and even large dairy farms in NY are taking it on the chin. The fact that many farmers are not able to make it on milk money alone means hundreds will close up and many may need to sell off their herds. This is a sad situation that mimics what has happened in the pork industry as well. Over production of product by very large companies in the mid-west and west has forced many smaller northeast producers to rethink their farm. Do they go "organic"? This requires a lot of red tape and there again, you have huge operations in the west that are certified organic and flood the market with product; plus the economic downturn has put a damper on organic purchasing at the retail level due to its higher price. Some have begun to think about cheese making. Artisan cheese is a growing area of agriculture but it takes many years and equipment to develop a quality product. Others have diversified the farm and become crop farmers.
Another direction is meat. Some dairy farms are now starting to raise animals for meat production. If for beef, this often requires a change from dairy breeds to meat breeds. This is an investment but local meats are demanding high prices these days. Chefs are increasingly looking towards the local sustainable products to differentiate their operation from others. The local hook is not only good for farmers but good marketing as well.
Enter veal. Dairy farmers often sell their male offspring at auction which often ends up as veal. A recent article in the Washington Post explains what some farmers are considering, milk feeding the offspring to raise expensive free ranged veal. To me it makes a lot of sense to sell a product that helps out the struggling dairy farmers and have a product that has more true veal flavor. The product, though a little redder than most veal, has a deeper flavor and the bones make for fantastic stock. I think that even the larger veal distributors, who are also hurting during this tough economic time, are looking to get veal back on the high end table. This might be the way.
Here are a couple articles on the subject I found intrigueing
http://www.cantonrep.com/lifestyle/food/x1972888334/Veal-cast-in-a-kinder-light

http://www.dcfoodies.com/2009/08/the-politics-of-food-veal.html

What about Bob?

Today we did our lesson on veal. I showed the class a leg of quality choice graded veal. It weighed about 46 lbs and I explained that this was a typical size for veal in today's marketplace. We divided the leg into sections and then cut some very nice scaloppine cutlets.

Afterward, we began our lecture for the day and I started with the different classes of veal available. The youngest veal found in the marketplace is bob veal. Bob veal is extremely small compared to regular veal and has a very mild taste. About 15 - 20% of all veal slaughtered in the US is Bob veal and it is typically sold as an inexpensive alternative to larger formula/ milk replacer fed veal.

So what about Bob veal? Is it tender? Yes, very tender. So why not use it? It is so young it hasn't developed any real flavor and it is almost too tender where the meat is almost jello-like. I know of a chef that used bob veal racks cut into small chops, frenched to the eye ( lollipop chop) then breaded with Panko breadcrumbs and shaved Parmeasean cheese. It was served as a passed appetizer. I've seen it also sold as "suckling veal" also even though it is typically only a couple weeks old and may never had actual milk. It worked Ok in these applications.

Another issue I recently read about is the fact the some producers were giving their cows a dose of antibiotics while pregnant and it resulted in the antibiotic ending up in the veal. Typically an animal must be off antibiotics for at least thirty days before slaughter. Unfortunately the bob veal are younger than that when slaughtered resulting in a positive residue test on some.

The decision to cut down on food cost has resulted in many chefs considering Bob veal as an alternative to quality veal. It is a decision that should be made with the chef understanding the downsides.