Cul de Veau à l'Angevine

The dish belongs to Anjou and the Saumurois and dates in spirit to the 18th century, when 'cul de veau' named the most prized part of the hind leg, the cut now called the quasi or noix. On the farms of the region, veal was traditionally slaughtered in spring and kept for feast days, then cooked long and slow in a covered cast-iron pot while the local white wine reduced and infused the meat. It is a regional home-cooking classic with no single inventor, defined by the pairing of fine veal, dry Anjou white, and a cream-finished sauce.

The veal carves into pale, fine-grained slices so tender they yield without resistance, lean rather than fatty. The sauce is the glory: ivory and silky, with the perfume of white wine softened and rounded by cream, the carrots sweet and glazed in it. Each bite is mild, delicate meat under a rich but bright sauce — never heavy, the acidity of the Anjou white keeping the cream in check. A plain potato or rice catches the sauce.

This is a white braise: the meat is coloured only lightly, if at all, to keep the sauce pale, then cooked low and slow in wine and stock so collagen in the connective tissue converts to gelatin, tenderising the lean rump and giving the liquid body. The dry Anjou white contributes acidity and aroma; a small measure of eau-de-vie deepens the flavour. Crème fraîche is stirred in near the end and not boiled hard, so it enriches and lightly thickens the sauce without splitting. Basting through the braise bastes the exposed meat and builds a glossy coating.