For all the articles that have appeared touting vaca vieja — also known as old or dual-purpose beef from mature, retired cattle — as the next big thing in meat with a rich, intensely beefy flavor and sustainable path to plate, the stuff is maddeningly hard for the average consumer to find.
In January while researching the scant American purveyors of old beef, I discovered a small retail and online delivery shop in Perry, N.Y., called Butter Meat Co. Butter sells beef sourced from a USDA-certified organic dairy farm in Pavilion, N.Y., with about 200 cows.
