Vitellone – Unique Beef with the quality of Veal

Here at The Thoroughly Wild Meat Company we are influenced by Italian cuisine and Italian butchery. However, most Italians would not recognise much of what we create here with our dry aged Beef, the 6-week black rib. For them 30-month old Beef is not on the menu, the choice is Vitello (veal) or Vitellone. And Vitellone is arriving here soon.

Most veal is produced from calves that are predominantly milk-fed, killed at around five or six months and are raised in barns and given access to the outside, but only on concrete.

Vitellone Beef is different. It is produced from older animals – around 10 months old. They have milk for three months and are then allowed out to pasture to graze. The meat is hung for around 10 days. It is slightly darker in colour than veal, but it still has very little fat and is unbelievably tender. However, the most important bit – flavour – it has a delicate beef flavour that we think puts it in a class of its own.

It is seasonal, and the cuts suit a lovely Summer lunch.