Generally, heifer meat offers a milder alternative to dry-aged beef – not as deep and intense in flavour and with a lactic note. The meat is leaner than marbled beef, but with more structure. Beef can be loud, sturdy, powerful – an elephant in a china store. Veal, when properly prepared, is a ballet dancer, on its toes with fine details and soft, gentle, undulating movements in the mouth.
Heifer meat is right in between the two types of meat in taste, smell, intensity and texture. That is, for the consumer who wants a piece of stable, tender meat with medium intensity and taste.
Appearance
Heifer meat has a nice colour – darker red than the more delicate pink of calf meat.
Taste
The meat appears a bit coarser in texture than veal and with a firmer bite to it without compromising on tenderness. The flesh is flavoursome with a medium amount of umami, taste and intensity. It’s not a super ‘beefy’ piece of meat - more powerful than calf but milder than beef dry-aged on the hook.
Scent
Lightly smoked/grilled notes with a smell of fried crust.
Garnish for dishes with heifer
When the meat is eaten as real cuts, ie. not minced or chopped into stews:
With this type of red meat (both the colour and the flavour) you want more powerful garnish; either in taste or texture. The rich flavour of the meat needs counterplay from the garnish.
I would say that you should always eat whatever is in season grown close to home.
You want garnish with bite, taste and texture to meet the meat. Greens could be broccoli, asparagus, cabbage, beans.
You could also use slightly sweet vegetables to balance the dark meat umami, such as corn on the cob or root vegetables.
Summer dish
Grilled steak from heifer (entrecote) with grilled green asparagus, corn on the cob and potatoes accompanied by a good home-made bearnaise.
Autumn/Winter Dish
Fried heifer steak (entrecote) with baked root vegetables, such as carrots, beetroot or scorzonera roots with a creamed mushroom sauce.
