This site, as you say, is made up of people, and we are doing the best we can.*

Veal stock does not grow on trees – never did, of course, but when butchers were local, it was a lot easier to get the raw materials. Frankly, we are amazed at the number of cookbooks that say, "use veal stock if you have a little hanging around," or "in this recipe veal stock is preferable to beef stock because it is more subtle," knowing full well that only one out of 93 of their readers ever has any real beef stock available. Much more common (and realistic) is the recipe that says, "veal stock or chicken stock," though they are not particularly similar. For all intents and purposes, outside the world of good restaurants, veal stock is dead.

Recipes for veal stock are found almost exclusively in older cookbooks. It is certainly no harder to make than beef stock; the challenge is just rounding up the bones.

Be that as it may, we perceive you to be made of money and asking where you can buy veal stock already made. And again, we must deliver the sad news that veal stock does not grow on trees. There are a few companies that make and sell demi-glace online and in some gourmet shops and natural foods stores. Real demi-glace is indeed made with veal stock, but it is highly concentrated and is a blending of veal stock and brown sauce, with a shot of Madeira or sherry. Even if you dilute it to the consistency of stock, it may not be – should not be – straight veal stock.

We have turned up a very few online sources for veal stock: Neesvig Purveyors, of Windsor, Wisc., sells Provimi Foods' Glace de Veau in 6 4-ounce tubs. Preferred Meats, of Oakland, Calif., Allen Brothers of Chicago, and Bonewerks Culinarte of Green Bay, Wisc. all offer veal stock in 1-pound frozen pouches. A couple of these believe they only sell to restaurants, so it may take an effort on your part to separate them from their veal stock (Bonewerks has a $100 minimum order, for example). And who knew that Wisconsin was the center of the veal stock universe?

We fully expect to come back to this page in a month and find that several of these sources no longer sell veal stock or won't sell to consumers. But this may be one occasion where using the French (glace de veau) may turn up more (or newer) online sources in a search engine than using English. You could also call around to a few of the better restaurants in your area (not during meal time) and ask where they get their veal stock.

*Sorry if we flew off the handle – our children are encouraging us to look into anger management….

Recommended recipe: Veal Stock