Veal meat has been the center of the plate for European cuisines for centuries. While our European ancestors brought their family recipes with them to America, the practice of raising veal in the United States didn’t fully develop until the 1900s.
A lot has changed since then, and today, people are rediscovering veal as a sustainable and humanely-raised meat choice. You might say people are rekindling an old love.
Can you imagine recreating a 200-year old family cookbook? That’s exactly what one Brooklyn, New York, woman is doing with her mother. She contacted the AVA through our website to say her family had lifted a self-imposed 20-year ban on veal consumption after learning of the industry’s move to group housing, which she considers a more humane way to raise veal calves. (We do too!)
The woman said the 200-year old family cookbook features several veal dishes. She wrote to express her appreciation for the changes that had occurred in how veal is raised today. She also wanted to know where to purchase veal. We had a few suggestions:
1.) Contact your local retailer and order veal through the meat department. Be sure to request American veal.
2.) If your local retailer is unable to help, contact one of our AVA-member companies such as Catelli Brothers and Marcho Farms to order direct.
3.) Of course, you can enjoy veal at a restaurant, but then you miss the joy of cooking it yourself!
Not everyone has a 200-year old family cookbook to reference for veal recipes, so follow this link to discover new recipes for enjoying veal. To learn more about how veal is raised today, visit a few farms by watching this video.