From left: ground beef, veal, and pork.Let’s start with the very basics. Anyone who’s been to a
supermarket has seen those plastic wrapped trays labeled
“meat loaf mix,” which contain a combination of pork, beef,
and veal. Why the mix? What does each of these meats
bring to the table? To find out, I made several identical meat
loaves using a very simple mix of meat and a few sautéed
vegetables (carrots, onions, celery). Each loaf was cooked in
a vacuum-sealed plastic bag in a water bath set at precisely
145°F. That way, I was certain that each batch was cooked
identically. For my first test, I cooked three loaves: 100-
percent beef, 100-percent pork, and 100-percent veal.
After more tastings, including an exclusionary test (beef
and pork alone, beef and veal alone, and pork and veal
alone), and combining all three, a few things became