Veal

Veal is young beef, and you can see it, feel it, smell it before anyone tells you. Choose it by colour: pale pink, almost rosy, never dark red like meat from an old cow. Look at the grain — fine and close, nothing coarse. The little fat there is should be creamy-white and firm to the touch. Smell it: clean, nothing sour, nothing heavy. Press it with a finger — it gives, soft and yielding, springing back gently. Some people say veal is bland because it's "unfinished beef," lacking flavour the way an unripe fruit lacks sweetness. No! Taste a good piece, simply grilled with salt, and you'll know that's nonsense — it's delicate, not empty. Cooks who believe that misconception often sear veal hard and long, as if punishing it for being mild, and end up with something grey and dry. Watch the surface instead: let it turn golden, not black, and pull the meat the moment it firms slightly under your finger but still yields. Wait longer and all the tenderness is gone. Raw, it carries 117 kcal and about 21 grams of protein per 100 grams — tender meat, worth every bit of attention you give it.