Milk-fed veal

Veau sous la mère

What it is

A calf raised sous la mère suckles two or three times a day and is usually given a nurse cow as well as its dam, because one cow cannot carry it to weight on milk alone. Nothing else is fed — no grain, no forage — and that is what keeps the flesh nearly white: iron from grass would redden it within days.

In the kitchen

Cook it pale — a blanquette, a braise held below a simmer, or a chop taken to just-set and no browner. A hard sear greys and tightens these delicate proteins, and the sweetness is the first thing to go.

Goes with

Cream Butter Lemon Tarragon Morel White asparagus Shallot Sorrel

Same species

Abura-kasu Amourettes (spinal marrow) Spider steak Bastourma Flank steak Beef

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