Hello!
Today we will talk about one of the most expensive meats - marbled beef.
On sale there are elite pieces, from Japan, which cost from 20 to 40 thousand rubles per
kilogram!
And although an ordinary person is unlikely to be able to taste such meat, we will tell
you why it is so expensive.
It is said that these cows are massaged and played with classical music to ensure the
tenderness of the meat.
Let's try to figure it out.
Here is wagyu beef, one of the most expensive meats in the world, produced in Japan and
prized for its rich, marbled appearance and buttery taste.
Even for the Japanese themselves, this delicacy is not for every day.
For such three slices of beef weighing 160 grams, you will have to pay $ 100.
On average, high-quality wagyu beef in Japan can cost up to $400 per kilogram, and cows
themselves can sell for up to $30,000.
But what really makes this meat so expensive?
The term wagyu literally translates to Japanese cow and usually refers to four main breeds.
These breeds are black, brown, hornless and Japanese shorthorn.
All of these breeds are bred in Japan, which is where authentic wagyu beef comes from.
There are about 3 million heads of beef cows in Japan.
More than 96% of the livestock account for the Japanese black breed.
These cows are genetically predisposed to intense marbling and a high content of unsaturated
fats.
They were bred for high physical endurance, which gave them more intramuscular fat cells.
Fat is distributed more evenly throughout the muscles, which is why wagyu beef looks
pink and has a very delicate taste.
The Japanese government tightly regulates wagyu production to protect the value and
quality of the meat.
There are quite a few brands of wagyu beef in Japan.
It is evaluated by two main factors: the amount of meat obtained and the quality of marbled
fat.
Only marbled beef with A3 to A5 certification is used for sale in Japan.
And here the higher the class, the higher the price.
In order to see how beef marbling is evaluated, you should go to a meat processing plant in
the city of Yonezawa in Yamagata Prefecture.
Employees take the branding of their products seriously.
Approximately three tons of wagyu kuroge beef are sold each year under the brand name Yonezawa
beef.
After the initial inspection, the carcasses are branded.
An incision is made and the marbling of the meat is checked.
On all carcasses, it is done in the same place in order to get a general idea of \u200b\u200bmeat.
Beef inspectors must first decide whether meat belongs to category A, B or C. It is
determined by the ratio of the amount of meat to the actual weight of the carcass.
Categories are considered - A - 72% and above, B - 69% and above, C - below 69%.
The marbling is then rated according to the "Beef Marbling Standard" from 1 to 5.
As you can see, as the marbling or fat content increases, so does the quality of the product.
Thus, the higher the marbling, the better the juiciness, tenderness, flavor and texture
of the beef will be.
The more pleasure a person will receive from such food.
The coveted Yonezawa beef brand receives only A4 and A5 grade products.
The A4 marbling is well balanced, with enough red meat to be chewed well, blending with
the fat in the mouth.
The A5 format is more intense.
Its marbling is balanced between red meat and fat, making it pink.
Studies show that this meat has a high content of monounsaturated fatty acids Omega 3 and
6, which are necessary for a person.
Fatty acids help lower cholesterol levels in the body.
The A5 stamp is the highest rank in Japan and is also stamped "Yonezawa Gyu" at the
factory.
Rarely does anyone buy a whole beef carcass, so at the meat processing plant they divide
it into sections, which is much more convenient for distributors.
This is a rather laborious work done with the help of special tools and knives.
Cleaning and butchering is carried out here with great precision, because the workers
understand that Yonezawa beef is a brand that represents their region.
After cutting, the beef is placed in bags, which are placed in a clamshell vacuum shrink
wrapper.
The meat is then dipped in hot water to tighten the wrap around the beef.
Ice water freezes this process, providing the block of meat with good protection and
preservation.
Packages are labelled, after which they are ready to be sent to restaurants or distribution
centers.
Wagyu beef has acquired an almost legendary status, and as such, there are many myths
about wagyu farms and how animals are treated, from daily massages to beer feeding.
Cow rearing conditions vary in each region, and different farmers breed differently.
One thing becomes clear that the farmers take great care of their charges.
So one of the farms contains 1250 heads of cattle.
They are protected from snow and freezing temperatures.
There is practically no smell of manure in the barn, only the hum of fans and the smell
of fresh hay are heard.
Each cow is endowed with a 10-digit number, by which you can track her entire pedigree
over several generations.
All information is stored in a computer database.
The calves are kept warm by heat lamps.
They are very cute and curious.
His mother is nearby.
Cows on such farms lead a carefree life.
They love to be groomed and massaged.
Therefore, they are all clean and well-groomed.
Farmers have an individual approach to calves.
The owner knows almost every one of them by sight, because he does not grow future meat,
but carefully like a pet.
They are given a massage to smooth out the marble pattern, and they are sometimes given
beer to appetize.
The Japanese joke that many people would not refuse such a life that these cows lead.
Cows are fed hay, straw, rice and corn.
Here they prepare mixtures of oats, oatmeal and corn.
Dried corn in granules is used, which is probably the most protein.
This helps to effectively increase the volume of meat in cows.
Definitely cows like this kind of food.
It is a stress-free environment for wagyu production.
There are only two animals in the corral, they are not cramped here, there is a lot
of fresh air and sun.
Just the perfect place.
It can be said that this is a five-star hotel for animals.
And all this so that they become first-class beef.
Today, these black wagyu bulls will give their lives for gourmets.
They are more prone to the accumulation of intramuscular marble fat - white, which is
very different from the usual subcutaneous - yellow, even in terms of health effects.
Often, a breeder raises cows until they are about 10 months old and then auctions them
off to a fattening farmer.
By the time the calves are sold at auction, they may already be worth 40 times as much
as American cattle.
The fattening farm will keep the animals in small pens and feed them a mixture of fiber
and a high-calorie concentrate of rice, wheat and hay.
These mixtures are fed to animals three times a day for almost two years, until the animals
become almost 50% fatter.
Only pregnant cows and breeding stock can graze on the pasture.
The duration of the fattening process, as well as high prices for a huge amount of concentrated
feed, increase the cost of beef, because during the fattening period each elite cow eats 5
tons of feed.
By the time a cow is ready to be auctioned off, its price rises to $30,000.
In comparison, the black Aberdeen Angus breed, which is considered the best in countries
such as the US, Canada, Argentina and Australia, usually sells for no more than $3,000.
Therefore, the price of wagyu beef, depending on the type, goes off scale.
Usually, the overall goal of farmers is to obtain high quality marbled beef, but approaches
to this vary depending on the farm and the area where the cattle are raised.
Although there are over 300 varieties of wagyu, the most famous cuts come from 10 Japanese
regions.
One of the most expensive cuts is Matsusaka Wagyu from Mie Prefecture.
It is prepared exclusively from young heifers and is highly valued for its tenderness.
In 2002, one Matsusaka cow was sold for 50 million yen, or about $400,000.
However, the most famous cut of wagyu is Kobe beef, which is produced in the city of Kobe
in Kyoto Prefecture and is made exclusively from young bulls or castrated bulls.
Kobe is often seen on American restaurant menus, however, customers should be wary of
dishes such as Kobe burgers, as real Kobe beef is too tender to be made into a patty.
In fact, several U.S. restaurants serve hybrid "wangus" beef from local Wagyu and Angus cows.
Shabu-shabu is a popular dish in Japanese restaurants.
The Kobe beef for the dish is cut thinly and thinly with a special machine, after freezing
it first.
Kobe is valued not only for the fact that it looks beautiful, but also for the quality,
the fat here is very soft.
When cooking, it spreads and gives the meat an indescribable delicate taste, as well as
an openwork almost lacy structure.
The Japanese call such meat not marble, but covered with hoarfrost.
And the name shabu-shabu means "back and forth."
The meat should be briefly dipped in boiling water, where pieces of mushrooms, herbs and
Chinese cabbage are already floating.
The result is something like a soup, from which vegetables and meat are taken in turn
and dipped into the sauce.
The taste is just magical.
When making a steak, guests in a Japanese restaurant are shown the full history of the
ordered piece of meat.
Each animal is given a passport with a pedigree and a unique nose print.
It's like people's fingerprints.
This bull was called Fuku Miya.
Here are the names of his ancestors up to the third generation.
Wagyu of the highest class is Miyazaki's A5, a two-time winner of the Wagyu Olympics.
Games are held in Japan every 5 years between prefectures, where only the best beef becomes
the winner.
This beef will cost the buyer $100 and up per pound.
In New York, there is a Japanese-style restaurant called SakaMai, where wagyu beef is a favorite
dish.
The restaurant is famous for serving wagyu in the form of a Japanese sandwich (Katsu
sando) for $85.
It's hard to say that there could be anything more in demand than the A5 Miyazaki.
However, olive wagyu is recognized as the rarest steak in the world.
It is made from the meat of cattle raised on pressed dried olive skins mixed into feed.
The variety was developed in 2006 by a Japanese farmer named Masaki Ishii from Shodoshima
who, frustrated by the amount of used olives he had to throw away each year, decided to
do something about it.
Pressed olive pomace left over from the oil-making process is very rich in nutrients, so Masaki
figured there must be a way to put it to good use.
The cows did not eat the unusual food, as the unusual texture and bitter taste of raw
olives did not suit them at all.
But Masaki didn't give up on his plan.
Through trial and error, Masaki Ishii discovered that by lightly roasting, drying, and pressing
used olives to extract their natural sugars, he could make them much tastier for the cows.
Adding spent olives to livestock diets changed the taste of the meat itself, and Japanese
connoisseurs noticed this as soon as they tasted it.
Obviously, the juiciness of the olives enhanced the taste of the meat, making the juicy steak
even more delicious.
It's impossible to deny that there's something special about olive wagyu, but unfortunately,
it's something that few get to taste.
Due to the extremely limited production of these cattle - there are
only about 2,200 such wagyu in the world - olive wagyu
is hard to find in Japan, let alone the rest of the world.
Olive wagyu is so rare that many restaurant owners in Japan have never even heard of it.
Meat, as science tells us, should be a holiday.
Often it is not
worth eating.
Well, sometimes it's so gentle, why not.
This is a real work of art and farmers and chefs.
That's all.
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