John Myers
Strictly speaking, only Japanese Tajima cattle that grew up in the Kobe region in southern Japan can be called Kobe beef. The meat from the Kobe beef is so noble because it is very tender and has a very fine marbling of fat. This gives the Kobe beef its excellent taste and stands for its excellent quality. In addition, the proportion of saturated fatty acids in this meat specialty should be relatively low.
In a broader sense, Wagyu beef is also referred to as Kobe beef. The export of cattle and their meat from Japan was banned until July 2014, but in the 1990s some animals were brought to the USA. Wagyu cattle are also bred in Canada and Australia and since 2006 in Germany. “Wagyu” can be translated as “Japanese cattle”, which includes not only the Tajima cattle from Kobe, but also other breeds. However, the meat quality is very good for all types of Wagyu beef.
The fact that Kobe beef is of particularly high quality also has to do with the way the animals are raised. It takes around two and a half to five years for Kobe beef to be ready for slaughter, which is significantly longer than for European cattle breeds, which are slaughtered at the age of one and a half. Kobe cattle are fed vitamin-rich hay, later also straw, wheat bran, and corn, and are given neither artificial growth hormones nor antibiotics. The genes of the Kobe beef also have an influence on the high quality of the meat with the fine marbling.
Kobe cattle are smaller and lighter than other breeds and live in relatively small herds. As a result, its meat is very rare, which is also reflected in the price: a kilogram of Kobe beef costs between 400 and 1000 euros, depending on the cut.
They are also regularly massaged with their hands to make their meat even more tender. You will be sprinkled with rice wine and listen to classical music. In addition, the animals get to drink beer.
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