Despite the prejudice, secret or expressed, which prevails in many
minds against veal,—one which the wise and witty “Country Parson”
has as surely fostered among reading people, as did Charles Lamb the
partiality for roast pig,—the excellent and attractive dishes that
own this as their base are almost beyond number. For soups it is
invaluable, and in _entrees_ and _réchauffés_ it plays a distinguished
part. From his head to his feet, the animal that furnishes us with
this important element of success in what should be the prime object
of cookery, to wit, to please while we nourish, has proved himself
so useful as an ally that it behooves us to lift the stigma from the
name of “calf,” provided he be not _too_ infantine. In that case he
degenerates into an insipid mass of pulpy muscle and gelatine, and
deserves the bitterest sneers that have been flung at his kind.