Kay Cooks

I’m just back from a weekend in Beaminster, Dorset, with the family. And there I fell in love with a butcher’s shop. (And with a hat shop, though that’s another story which ends with a rather snazzy red fedora.) For his weekend special, the butcher had some beautiful T-bones of veal.

I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating. We don’t eat enough veal these days. Despite a massive popular campaign in the late ‘80s, which outlawed the hideous practice of crating, it seems that people still associate veal with animal cruelty.

Crates have been banned for nearly 30 years now, and the best British veal is reared free-range which gives its meat a lovely rosy colour.

In fact, nowadays it’s crueller not to eat veal. Veal is a product of the dairy industry. In dairy farming, only cows make it to adulthood, with the exception of a very few prize bulls, and the bull calves are surplus to requirements. With no other purpose, they’re either killed at birth or raised for veal. Sometimes the former is often more economical.

Veal gives the dairy farmer a second stream of income, which helps keep the price of milk low and offers us, the consumer, another fantastic flavoured meat.

I don’t believe you can separate ethical issues from eating meat, so I make a point of seeking out meat that’s been raised with the best farming practices. And, because that’s often more expensive, I’m happy to eat less of it. That’s my choice, and I know we all have to figure our own way through this particular moral maze. But I’ve always found it strange that a lot of people who have a problem with veal have no objections to lamb. It’s a false equivalency. They’re both young animals slaughtered at similar relative ages for our food.

Veal’s a fantastically versatile meat. Its chops and escalopes make for quick grills and sautés. It roasts beautifully. It makes for delicious, subtle stews and braises. And its offal: well, calf’s liver’s just about as good as it gets.

So, in honour of the humble veal calf, here’s a super-quick recipe for veal escalopes. It’s an ideal mid-week supper. You can make it in less than half an hour. And, since we’re talking veal, here’s another shout-out to Little Black Book favourites Boccaddon Farm whose veal you buy online.