U.S. beef that "can be cut with a butter knife"

[Mulboyne]

The Allen Brothers Wagyu Steak Burger and Snake River Farms Kobe Beef Burger
MSNMoney: American Kobe-Style Beef Has Staying Power

For the first time in four years, a gourmet extravagance -- authentic Japanese Kobe beef -- is allowed back into the United States. The question is whether anyone will care. An American "Kobe-style" brand has taken its place on restaurant menus. Legend has it that Japanese Kobe cattle are fed beer, massaged with sake, even soothed with soft music..."It's a great story, and we don't go out of our way to dispel the myth, but it's really not necessary," said Jay Theiler, president of Idaho-based Snake River Farms. "The two things that make Kobe-style beef are genetics and a long feeding program"...more...

Scroll down to the bottom of the Snake River link to view their online video.

[GuyJean]

Looks pretty damn good..

I went to the Oak Door in the Grand Hyatt at Roppongi Hills and was pretty disappointed with their 4,500 yen rib-eye steak; a tad tough and not as much flavor as I expected. Some A1 did the trick, but a streak that expensive should need nothing.. Although, they did have 40,000 yen steaks.. If I were paying, I would've complained.

GJ

[Greji]

Looks pretty damn good..

I went to the Oak Door in the Grand Hyatt at Roppongi Hills and was pretty disappointed with their 4,500 yen rib-eye steak]

Sounds like an excellent spot for lunch GJ!

[GuyJean]

Sounds like an excellent spot for lunch GJ!

It is when someone else is buying.

GJ

[Greji]

Sounds like an excellent spot for lunch GJ!

It is when someone else is buying. ]

That's exactly what I had in mind and since it is in the neighborhood, hehehe.

[kurohinge1]

... U.S. beef that "can be cut with a butter knife" ...

All I can say is that it's about time!

After all, U.S. butter that "can be cut with a steak knife" has been around for at least 7 years.

[GuyJean]

After all, U.S. butter that "can be cut with a steak knife" has been around for at least 7 years.

I like spreading freedom with a steak knife..

GJ

[Greji]

After all, U.S. butter that "can be cut with a steak knife" has been around for at least 7 years.

I like spreading freedom with a steak knife..

GJ

That's what she said!

[Mulboyne]

The Globe and Mail: The foodie forecast 2006
...The rich fatty Wagyu beef from Kobe in Japan is the new standard. Not easily available in Canada -- there is only one producer (Pat McCarthy in Alberta, http://www.wagyucanada.com) and he breeds the Wagyu beef with Angus (still a good choice) -- it is meltingly tender and full of flavour. More breeders are choosing it in the United States, and top restaurants and butchers are snapping it up. But the big prize meat right now is pork, especially Berkshire pork, which comes from Kurobuta hogs, prized in Japan for their flavour and juiciness. They are now raised in Ontario and other regions in small quantities. The meat is moist, tender, juicy and head and shoulders above any other pork I have tasted. Watch for it to come to restaurant menus before we can buy it readily at butcher shops.

...Japan's other gift to North America is the wonderful knives it is producing. Knives are the big trend in kitchenware, and over the past few years the Japanese have cornered the business. They make very sharp, well-balanced knives in two different styles: multipurpose Western and single-purpose Japanese. The Western knives have two blades fused together, making them strong but not as fine, whereas the Japanese knives are made from one piece of steel, are very sharp and have a specific purpose, such as a knife only for cutting fish for sushi. The multipurpose santoku knife, a cross between a cleaver and a regular chef's knife, is already very popular.

[GuyJean]

After all, U.S. butter that "can be cut with a steak knife" has been around for at least 7 years.

I like spreading freedom with a steak knife..

GJ

That's what she said!

GJ

[Mulboyne]

Chateaux Wagyu: European Wagyu Cattle at Altembrouck

[keirnna]

While I haven't had Kobe beef in a while Ishagaki beef is amazing. The Ishagaki steak I had was some of the best I've eaten.

[Mulboyne]

[homesweethome]

I thought this article was very interesting:

"The Japanese product actually sets the beef price throughout the world; it's very important to the whole market," said Tony Fitzgerald, who manages Macquarie Downs, a Darling Downs operation owned by "a private Japanese guy".

So the 'private Japanese guy' is the same question as: 'who sold them the missile' and the answer?

Are Austrailians usually so astute? I don't know, so will ask Charles.

[kurohinge1]

... So the 'private Japanese guy' is the same question as: 'who sold them the missile' and the answer? ...

Wouldn't it be more correct to say "who took the missile with them?"

After all, you're talking about Japanese operating outside of Japan, selling back to Japan and, as they suggest now, the more lucrative Chinese market.

The "Australian and US breeders" thing seems to often just be a geographical tag.

[Mulboyne]

Japan's Yomiuri newspaper last week reported that the Ministry of Agriculture, Forests and Fisheries, the notoriously protectionist MAFFI, was examining whether the four principal wagyu cattle breeds could be brought within the reach of Japan's intellectual property law.

Via the DNA, apparently.
Telegraph: Japan tries to protect gourmet wagyu beef

Japan is planning to protect its famous wagyu beef brand from foreign imitators by copyrighting the DNA of four breeds of cattle...Japan's agriculture ministry is now discussing ways to restrict the use of the term wagyu only to beef with DNA belonging to one of the four kinds of cattle that have lived in Japan for centuries.

[kurohinge1]

...

Japan is planning to protect its famous wagyu beef brand from foreign imitators by copyrighting the DNA of four breeds of cattle...Japan's agriculture ministry is now discussing ways to restrict the use of the term wagyu only to beef with DNA belonging to one of the four kinds of cattle that have lived in Japan for centuries.

Why do I get a feeling of deja vu ?

Champagne is a sparkling wine produced by inducing the in-bottle secondary fermentation of wine to effect carbonation. It is named after the Champagne region of France. While the term "champagne" is sometimes used by makers of sparkling wine in other parts of the world, such as California, laws in most countries require the Champagne name to only be used with wines that come from the Champagne region ...

[Mulboyne]

IOL: Japan to bar-code semen to protect Kobe beef

..."Japanese beef is Japan's unique property created by producers, researchers and related parties after repeated improvement. And it is necessary to recognise that 'wagyu' is a Japanese treasure," a ministry official said. Between 1997 and 1998, 128 heads of Japanese cattle and 13 000 vials of sperm were exported to the United States, an agriculture ministry policy paper said. The genetic material was in turn sent to Australia, where it has become mixed with foreign sperm through artificial insemination, it said...more...

[Samurai_Jerk]

Those Snakeriver Farm burgers kick ass. Probably because they are like 65 grams of fat a patty.

[Taro Toporific]

Japan Seeks To Bar Meat Imports From Sale As Local
Seeking to bar imported meat from being sold under well-known Japanese names, the Agriculture Ministry will establish a panel of experts Thursday to discuss new rules governing labeling...With more imported meat being sold in Japan, there have been imports bearing such Japanese names as Wagyu, which covers Japanese purebred beef, and Kurobuta, a type of Berkshire pig...more...

[dimwit]

I know a meat packer in western Japan and he was telling me that the amount of stuff claiming to be Kurobuta is about 200% of what is actually produced, most of which is inferior grade stuff from all over western Japan.