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Veal

Veal is best when the animal is from two to three months old. The flesh of the bull calf is the most suitable for joints, being of a firmer grain. That of the cow calf is the best for made-dishes. The fillet of the cow calf is generally preferred, because it has the udder. The finest calves have the smallest kidneys, and when the veal is good these are well covered with fat. Veal, like all young meat, has a tendency to turn very quickly. It is both unpalatable and most unwholesome when it is at all tainted, and it cannot be recovered, as brown meats sometimes are, by the use of charcoal or Condy's Fluid. Therefore it ought not to be kept more than two days in summer and four in winter. If eaten quite fresh it is apt to be a little tough. To assist in keeping, the pipe should be removed from the loin as soon as the veal comes from the butcher. The skirt also should be taken at once from the breast, the inside scraped and wiped, and dredged with flour. If there is any danger of the veal becoming tainted, wash it, and put it into boiling water for ten minutes. Plunge it into cold water till cool, wipe it dry, and put it into the coolest place that can be found. Although veal can be obtained all the year round, it is best from May to September. No meat is more generally useful for making soups and gravies than veal. The flesh is rather indigestible. The head, kidneys, and sweetbreads are considered great delicacies. The feet contain a good deal of nourishment. Veal is cut up as follows: (A) The Hind-knuckle; (B) the Chump, which consists of the rump and the hock-bone; (c) Fillet; (D) the Loin; (E) Neck; (F) the Breast; (G) the Shoulder; (H) Fore-knuckle. To these joints must be added the head, which is highly esteemed, and the pluck, which includes the liver, lights, heart, sweetbreads, of which one is called the throat sweetbread, and is the larger of the two; the other the windpipe sweetbread. The pluck also includes the nut, melt, skirt, and throat. The udder or firm white fat of the fillet is used by French cooks for forecemeat. Veal should be thoroughly done. When undercooked it is unwholesome, and should be avoided.