For those interested, here are the numbers from the recent veal/young beef. It had a carcass weight of 154kg at a little over 7 months. From that carcass the butcher made 108kg of cuts, a rendering of 70%. Note that the cuts include the jarret which includes the shin bone thus adding to the weight. A boneless equivalent would render a little less.

• Côtes/filet – t-bone steaks 13.8kg (51 steaks made!)
• Côtes decouvertes – chops from the front of the loin, veal equivalent of basse côte: 7.9kg
• Osseline – can’t figure out what this is but it is nice and tender for frying: 4.3kg
• Épaule – shoulder steaks: 2.8kg
• Quasi/tranche – rump steaks: 6.9kg
• Escalope – rump steaks: 9.7kg
• Blanquette sans os –  braising meat: 24kg
• Filet – filet for roasting or making little steaks: 1.6kg
• Rôti – rump roasts: 18.5kg
• Jarret – shin for braising: 6.7kg
• Tendrons – sliced brisket, like an uncured beef bacon. I fry one up for breakfast: 10.4kg

Also included were the tail, the amazing (and hugely expensive in France) calf’s liver, the kidneys, tongue, feet and many other unusual parts. And what on earth is the capeline?

Overall most of the meat was quick frying and even the braising cuts (like blanquette de veau) are something of a fancy dish here.

We liked the balance between taste and tenderness so much that we’re thinking of doing this on a regular basis, although we’re not sure what to call it. We could age it a couple of weeks longer and then it would be legally jeune bovin or ‘young beef’.

For more information on the different types of veal, I wrote some background a while back.

And now a song that just wouldn’t get recorded these days.