Veal is often associated with international cuisines such as Italian, French, German, Swiss, Hungarian, and Czech. Home cooks enjoy preparing veal for special occasions or for casual dinners such as barbecues. Veal is USDA or state inspected. Here are some facts about veal.
What is veal?
Veal is the meat from a calf or young beef animal. A veal calf is raised until about 16 to 18 weeks of age, weighing up to 450 pounds. Male dairy calves are used in the veal industry. Dairy cows must give birth to continue producing milk, but male dairy calves are of little or no value to the dairy farmer. A small percentage are raised to maturity and used for breeding. Calf: A calf is a young bovine of either sex that has not reached puberty (up to about 9 months of age), and has a maximum live weight of 750 pounds. “Bob” Veal: About fifteen percent of veal calves are marketed up to 3 weeks of age or at a weight of 150 pounds. These are called Bob Calves. “Special-Fed” Veal: Special, milk-fed and formula fed veal calves usually are fed nutritionally balanced milk or soy based diets. These specially controlled diets contain iron and 40 other essential nutrients, including amino acids,
carbohydrates, fats, minerals and vitamins. The majority of veal calves are “special-fed.”
