I have a question about veal

[Mikey]

I plan on making a Turkish dish called Adana Kabob.  The recipe calls for a mixture of equal parts of ground lamb and ground veal.  I don't believe I have ever eaten veal.  I understand it is calf beef.  I see ground lamb at my grocers but I don't recall seeing ground veal.  They may have it but I have not noticed it.  I'm considering using ground beef in lieu of ground veal should I not be able to easily find ground veal.

Does ground veal taste similar to ground beef? 

[tugo]

Hi Mikey,

Here we do it generally, only from male lamb meat. Meat has to be minced only once and not too fine. To mix it with veal is not common here.
But I have a question; did you find the "metal sword" like (sorry I could not find the english word) ?? because with chopsticks or similar things it does not work.

And do you know the hints how to keep this minced meat fixed on the "sword like" thing?

Because of my travelling job, I cannot much join the forum now a days but will try to follow your topic, in case you have more questions.

[tugo]

Here is a video link how it is prepared. Do not have time to see all the video, hope no harmful material inside:))


http://www.videolife.tk/video/qxeExGfeJXg/Ellerin-Türküsü-KanalB-Adana-Kebap-2-3.html

[Mikey]

Thanks Tugo.  The video was quite informative even though I didn't understand what they were saying.  The word you may have been searching for is "skewer".  I have several types of skewers, including some flat ones, but none are sword-like and they are only perhaps 1/4" wide.  It was interesting seeing how they formed the minced lamb around the skewers.  The Adana seems to have a high fat content thus I'm assuming the meat slides off the skewer pretty easily.

The recipes I found call for forming the minced meat into approximately 6" long by 2" wide and 3/8" thick patties that are then cooked on the grill.  There is a Turkish restaurant nearby and I will go and try their Adana kabobs.  I am curious if they use skewers....  I found 1" wide skewers on Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/Stainless-Brazilian-Style-Barbecue-Skewers-1-Inch/dp/B002LC783W/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1290789848&sr=1-3-fkmr0 

[tugo]

That was my description of sword:))  1"  flat skewers will do fine.

After adding some very fine onions and the salt and the other spices, the ground meat has to be mashed quite long and hard by hand. During placing the ground meat around the skewers, the hand movements you see in the video is very important and if you keep your hands wet with cold water, the fat around the meat will keep the meat binded to each other and not fall apart.
Good idea to see it practised in the Turkish restaurant. Good luck:))