1. Veal is the name applied to the flesh of a slaughtered calf. This
kind of meat is at its best in animals that are from 6 weeks to 3 months
old when killed. Calves younger than 6 weeks are sometimes slaughtered,
but their meat is of poor quality and should be avoided. Meat from a
calf that has not reached the age of 3 weeks is called bob veal. Such
meat is pale, dry, tough, and indigestible and, consequently, unfit for
food. In most states the laws strictly forbid the sale of bob veal for
food, but constant vigilance must be exercised to safeguard the public
from unscrupulous dealers. A calf that goes beyond the age of 3 months
without being slaughtered must be kept and fattened until it reaches the
age at which it can be profitably sold as beef, for it is too old to be
used as veal.
2. The nature of veal can be more readily comprehended by comparing it
with beef, the characteristics of which are now understood. Veal is
lighter in color than beef, being more nearly pink than red, and it
contains very little fat, as reference to Fig. 1, _Meat_, Part 1, will
show. The tissues of veal contain less nutriment than those of beef, but
they contain more gelatine. The flavor of veal is less pronounced than
that of beef, the difference between the age of animals used for veal
and those used for beef being responsible for this lack of flavor. These
characteristics, as well as the difference in size of corresponding
cuts, make it easy to distinguish veal from beef in the market.