Veal brawn is a meat product consisting of rendered down meat from a calf's head, excluding the brain which is used for other purposes, with aspic, herbs and flavourings, poured into a mould. It is eaten as a first course. It is quite fatty and benefits from being served with a vinaigrette flavoured with mustard.
Cuts of veal in the United States generally correspond to beef cuts but because of European, especially Italian influence, there are many separate cuts such as neck slices, riblet, fore shanks, brisket pieces etc, confined to particular localities.
A vegetable is a plant or part of a plant used as food, though usually not including the sweeter ones which are termed fruits. They have traditionally been served as an accompaniment to meat or fish, using the standards such as a cabbage, potato, carrot, or bean. The times they are a-changing and they are now frequently made into delicious and sustaining dishes in their own right. They are good for you and good to eat if decently cooked. Imagine, anything from an aubergine to a yam, by way of beans, asparagus, peas, parsnips, wonderful leafy greens, gorgeous root veg, fresh young spring vegetables bursting with flavour.
A vegetable marrow usually just refers to the bland, green elongated marrow which looks like an overgrown courgette (US: zucchini). Since it bears very little flavour or texture of its own it is best to stuff it with something interesting and bake it.
Chayote. Custard marrow. A Central American food plant, it is a bulbous, pear-shaped gourd which grows on a vine, with pale green, ridged skin and about the size of an avocado. It is a bland vegetable, somewhat like a cucumber in flavour, with a little spice when fresh. It should be treated in the same way as vegetable marrow or aubergine (US: eggplant) and, like them, should be cooked before eating. In Mexico it is often diced or sliced and then steamed or poached, after which it is added to soups or salads, though it may be served as an accompaniment to meat dishes or as a dessert. Leaves and shoots are also edible when young.
