Veal
Meat from young cattle, pale, tender and mild in flavour.
Veal is reliably available from a butcher but not in every supermarket, where it is often sold only as escalopes; cuts for braising such as shoulder or shank are best ordered ahead from a butcher.
Substitute:
Young beef from the shoulder or neck is the obvious substitute, but it tastes stronger, is darker and needs considerably longer to braise; pork shoulder comes closer in tenderness and mildness.