Who has not heard the phrase "veal tenderness"? This is a kind of manifestation of feelings, too rash and too strong, not at all suitable for the present situation. Have you ever wondered where this expression came from?
Let's turn to the classics
There is a hypothesis that for the first time the expression of "veal tenderness" appeared in the novel by Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky "The Brothers Karamazov", it is there that there are the following lines: "he loved his mother very much, and did not love only" calf tenderness ", as he put it in his school language ". And although at that time such an expression was not at all in widespread use, it can be assumed that its meaning was completely understandable to the readers of Dostoevsky's time.
Interestingly, at about the same time, another Russian writer Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin used in his work a similar expression “the need to lick stubbornly stuck in us even to this day, when, apparently, there are no longer any motivating reasons for licking or for veal delights . It is noteworthy that if you look into Dahl's explanatory dictionary, dated a little earlier, there is nothing about veal tenderness and veal delight, therefore, it can be assumed that the catch phrase arose in the minds of two Russian classics at about the same time.
What kind of tenderness are these?
Why did the tenderness suddenly become veal? Everything is very simple. The fact is that the calf, being at a tender age, loves to show its feelings, joyfully and enthusiastically licking everything that seems to be worthy of attention. It could be a mother, other cows, calves, or maybe a milkmaid or even a completely unfamiliar person who looked into the barn and decided to pet a small calf. The kid does this completely sincerely, without embarrassment and very touching - well, how not to melt here! This is where the "veal tenderness" came from. And since the manifestation of love and affection is almost thoughtless and indiscriminate not everyone likes, the expression "calf tenderness" has rather a negative connotation.
One can, of course, assume that not only calves love to express their feelings in this way, but the catch phrase could sound like "sheep's tenderness" or "puppy tenderness." This, undoubtedly, is also possible, however, one should not forget that at the time of the appearance of the phrase, calves in the life of Russian residents were not as rare as they are today. Therefore, it was simple, accessible and understandable to everyone, without exception.
Gastronomic hypothesis
There is another less romantic theory about the origin of the expression. It is based on the fact that veal in taste, aroma and consistency is much softer and more tender than beef - meat of adult animals. Therefore, the phrase "veal tenderness" - can be just a reference from feelings and their manifestation to beef stroganoff or cutlet.
