In this context, “meat” means “beef.” You could use veal if you drop the cloves entirely and substitute parsnips for turnips (which I’d suggest anyway, since they have milder but similar flavor and sometimes the bitterness of turnips can be overpowering).
Either way, three cloves is probably too many. I have a suggestion for what to do instead.
From a box sold in Columbiaville, Michigan.
Soup Stock
- 2 lb. or less bone + meat
- 2 qt. cold water or [broth?] from cooked vegetables
- 1/3 c. diced carrots
- 1/3 c. diced turnips
- 1/3 c. diced celery
- 1 onion, minced
- 1/4 bay leaf
- 3 cloves, if desired
- 1 spring parsley
- If fresh meat is used, have the bone split. Wipe meat, cut into small pieces and brown it slightly with the onion in a little fat. Left over bones and bits of meat may be used.
- Add water. Heat slowly and cook just below boiling point for 3 or 4 hours in a covered kettle.
- 1/2 hour before removing stock from fire add seasoning and if vegetables are to be strained out add them also.
- Strain stock and cool it. Allow fat to solidify. Remove fat.
- Use stock to make different kinds of soups. If vegetables have not been added they may be cooked din the stock when the soup is made. Meat from which stock has been made should be saved, and may be used in various ways, if well seasoned.
Yesterdish suggestions: I would suggest omitting the cloves. But if you want to use cloves, try this instead: add an 1/8 of a teaspoon (no more!) of the aromatic spice blend “quatre epices” (which is a useless name, since it’s French for four spices, and this is a French thing, so, great job naming, French people). The spices in the blend can change from time to time, but typically includes white pepper (sometimes replaced with allspice), ginger (sometimes replaced with cinnamon), nutmeg, and cloves.
The cloves and the quatre epices would be trying to accomplish the same goal, giving the stock an undernote of warmth. But three cloves would make this taste more like somebody threw a package of clove gum into the pot. Quatre epices is a much more subtle way of reaching the same goal.
Also, I don’t think turnips generally belong in soups, because their bitterness can be out of control at times. Use parsnips instead.