Looking for an obscure cut of meat

[mattlap_2000]

My wife is a caregiver for an elderly polish immigrant who has been talking forever about cooking "the leg of a calf", but claims to have been unable to find it. My first instinct is that he's just talking about veal shank, and the language barrier is getting in the way, but that wouldn't be difficult for him to find.

My wife went to a butcher to ask and they claimed to "used to carry it", which again makes me think it's not a shank.

Anyone familiar with eastern European/Jewish cooking aware of what this is? And if so, where to find it?

[nsxtasy]

I'd suggest calling one or more of our best butchers to ask them. You'll find recommendations in these discussions:

www.chow.com/topics/812852
www.chow.com/topics/561594
www.chow.com/topics/380774
www.chow.com/topics/477536

In particular, you might want to try Romanian Kosher Sausage in Rogers Park; they might be most familiar with cuts used in traditional Ashkenazic Jewish cuisine. They're at Clark and Touhy (7200 N Clark St) and their phone number is 773-761-4141.

[CJT]

Sounds to me like a leg of veal, which I haven't seen very often recently in meat markets. My mother (not Polish, not Jewish) used to roast it on a Sunday or holiday event. It used to be reasonably common, but maybe leg of lamb is just more salable these days.