VEAL, BEEF, DEER etc

so to celebrate the end of week 2 horrible lectures and equally horrible PBL, i decided to do a bit of therapeutic cooking.

yes, cooking IS therapeutic, good for the med soul... just like a cup of warm nourishing soup...

so i decided to use my crockpot and cook this Southern Beef Stew recipe that i got from the internet...

and so happily and full of hope, i went to Safeway and proceeded to buy the ingredients that my kitchen lacked.

and lo and behold, at the meat section, to my delight, i found meat at low prices. sure, they might not be fresh enough. but, hey, i'm going to cook it on that day itself. so what the heck, i happily took one of them, forgetting to check the label as i assumed that red meat=beef or mutton...

and the freaking label says VEAL... and the english pro that i am, thought it was some form of cow, like a baby cow or maybe just some part of the cow, liek its stomach or tender underbelly which i was inclined to believe at that time...

so i paid the freaking LOW PRICE and went home happily yet again...

and HAPPILY AGAIN, i peeled the carrots, celery and whatever that it needs and proceeded to slow cook the whole thing.

and when i checked on it after 3 hours, there's this weird smell coming out from it... and i just assumed it was the thyme that i put in that had this weird smell.

so happily, i served it to Kelvin and the first bite i took.... the conversation went thus:


Me: EWWW. this tastes weird.

Kelvin: (being the gentleman he was) no lah, it smells good. i could smell it from the study table lah. can eat one.

Me: NOOO. i don't think it's supposed to taste THIS weird... (makes a sad face)

Kelvin: (took one slurp of the soup) Oh my! (that's his signature exclaimation) this IS weird. what did you put it??

Me: See, i told you so.... (happiness dissipating already) i just put in carrots, celery and potatoes and thyme.... and veal...

Kelvin: (started laughing LOUDLY) my dear, veal is deer meat...

Me: really?? NOOOOO, veal is beef!!

Kelvin: NOOOO, IT'S DEER MEAT!!!

and thus ends this conversation....

the next day, i Answers.com the word veal.... and this is what i got:

Veal is the meat of a baby calf!! which means its cow!!! or rather young beef!!

so there!!

but the question remains: why the heck did my beef stew turned out to be soooo darn gross??!!