Veal, long a culinary faux pas, is back on the menu.
This is not that milky white, almost-tasteless meat that old-school French bistros use as a canvas for sauce. That's because the new veal is raised in open pastures instead of in crates. The resulting meat has a delicate, beefy flavor and a rosy color.
"Humanely raised" is now the name of the game--even for veal producers. In recent years, small, independent farmers started producing veal according to a new set of values. Virginia's Chapel Hill Farm, for example, raises heritage-breed Randall Linebacks especially for veal.
Larger producers are following suit. In 2008, Strauss Brands, one of the largest U.S. veal producers, began selling what it calls "Free Raised" veal, which hasn't been given hormones or antibiotics. The calves, a French breed called Limousin, live their whole lives with their mothers in the pasture.
Chefs have taken note: At Milwaukee's Bartolotta Lake Park Bistro, chef Adam Siegel serves roasted veal with Swiss chard, shiitakes and tarragon cream, while Washington, D.C., restaurant Proof offers up veal sweetbreads with thyme and brown butter. And at Lumiere, just outside of Boston, the menu features a trio of veal cuts with celery-root puree, chestnuts and apples.
Home cooks can buy the new veal at specialty stores and Whole Foods (which sells Strauss), as well as online from Allen Brothers.
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