Is veal parmigiana becoming an endangered dish?

[Pink Jazz]

It seems like more and more Italian restaurants, especially the big chains, have been removing veal parmigiana from their menus. While I am pretty sure it doesn't sell as much as chicken or eggplant parmigiana, I wonder, do you think veal parmigiana might soon become an endangered dish? Both chicken and veal parmigiana are Italian-American modifications of the original parmigiana which was made with eggplant, but it looks like between the two, chicken parmigiana dominated.

Yes, I know veal is expensive and if it doesn't sell, there is no justification for a restaurant to keep it on their menu due to the high cost of the veal. Also, some people have an anti-veal attitude due to animal cruelty issues.

 

[Mia]

Veal doesn't really have all that much taste for me, it's about it's texture when cooked properly. It's more about the taste of the added ingredients. And I've not eaten it in thirty years. Even when the restaurant I worked in soaked it in milk for days.

It was the idea that it's a young animal slaughtered because it's flesh is soft and delicate, the same as lamb really. It does seem cruel to kill a young animal to eat such foods, no matter how choice the meal is. Think I'd prefer eating eggplant if I had to choose, or something of that nature.

 

[Aspychata]

So sad when l found out what veal was. But eggplant is great. Lentils are a great source of protein. Now l throw them in the microwave.

 

[Progster]

Yes, veal is not mainstream these days, and controversial for the reasons you mention. Personally I prefer not to eat it, not that keen on meat anyway.

Even if it disappears from the mainstream restaurants, its recipe will live on. There will probably always be a niche market for it, no matter how controversial it is.

 

[Yeshuasdaughter]

I think so. You really don't see veal anymore.

I just recently read on a Jewish website that even if a calf is raised halachically and undergoes kosher slaughter, there may still be a prohibition on eating it.

That is because the bible tells uncertain terms, that we are never to abuse an animal. There are many laws about this. This one I really like: "A righteous man regards the life of his animal, But the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel." (Proverbs 12:10). According to biblical law, animal cruelty and farming using cramped conditions are forbidden by God.

But Jewish law also regards the fact that male calves often have virtually no use for milk or meat as they grow, and often if they aren't raised for veal, they would have to be euthanised. And destroying nearly every male calf for this reason would be animal cruelty as well.

Therefore, the rabbis have concluded that raising animals for, and eating veal is allowed, out of respect for the animal. They have come to the conclusion that the only way Jews are really allowed to eat veal, is if it is not the white veal that is grown by feeding the calf a milk substitute that causes anemia. Although the calf may be raised in the stall he must be comfortable and well fed. He must allowed room to roam. The calf must allowed to eat grass, and be outside and see the sun. He must have as happy a life as any other animal.

And on the day of slaughter, it must be with a single stroke, and the animal must feel absolutely no pain, and die instantly, otherwise it is not Kosher because of the animal cruelty in its death.

 

[menander]

It seems like more and more Italian restaurants, especially the big chains, have been removing veal parmigiana from their menus. While I am pretty sure it doesn't sell as much as chicken or eggplant parmigiana, I wonder, do you think veal parmigiana might soon become an endangered dish? Both chicken and veal parmigiana are Italian-American modifications of the original parmigiana which was made with eggplant, but it looks like between the two, chicken parmigiana dominated.

Yes, I know veal is expensive and if it doesn't sell, there is no justification for a restaurant to keep it on their menu due to the high cost of the veal. Also, some people have an anti-veal attitude due to animal cruelty issues.

i read a book about a guy who worked in a slaughter plant who had such massive PTSD it was horrifying.

I lived in an area where the indigenous people have a certain ritual they would do when killing an animal to eat it. It was honoring the animal. It was acknowledging that humans often need to eat animals or die. It was not a thoughtless act, the taking of the life. The ritual almost seemed to be an apology, an acknowledgement, a connection to the fact that they both had life.

Has anyone seen this done or done it themselves?

 

[Mary Terry]

I think veal is disappearing from menus because of the cruelty of the calves' lives and the expense of the meat. I once had to foreclose on a veal farm that had filed for bankruptcy. The farmer could not afford to feed the calves. When I went to the farm with my client, I was shocked and disgusted with how those calves were raised. They were locked in tiny little stalls without room to even turn around, in a darkened barn (no sunlight or even artificial light) to keep their stress levels low, with excrement all over the stalls and the calves.

I never ate veal again, and don't like it when someone dining with me in a restaurant orders veal. There are plenty of humane ways to raise livestock but veal production is not humane. At least lambs are allowed to stay with their mothers, be nursed by their mothers, and run free before they are slaughtered.

Eggplant parm and chicken parm taste delicious anyway. Who needs veal?!

 

[VAW]

My grandfather would never eat veal, and my parents never ate veal, so of course I never ate veal. I did however have some eggplant parmesan just the other day! Was GREAT!