I've always been meaning to write about this subject since I had an encounter with it in San Diego a few weeks back in the form of a California roll. Yes, you heard it right, a California roll toped with raw slices of Kobe beef. The taste? Absolutely heavenly. Nevermind the Cali roll. The beef is so tender, that it literally melts in your mouth like strips of butter (minus the guilt and the greasy aftertaste). The flavor is so subtle, that you actually have to psych yourself up before taking a bite otherwise you'll miss the mild beefy flavor and sweet undertones -- reminds me of fine wine.
So what's so "techie" about Kobe beef? Well, the genetics behind it. Even before the buzzword "Genetically Modified Food" caught on, the Japanese were already doing it hundreds of years back through successful breeding and cross-breeding of the cattle species called Wagyu.
That species of cattle is genetically predispositioned to maximize meat marbling. Hence the tender meat. The fat is not just any other fat, it's oleaginous, unsaturated fat -- healthy fat (yeah right!).
What about the myths about cow massages? Well, in a way it's true. Grazing land is so expensive in Japan, that they just massage the cows instead just to get their exercise. Think of it as physical therapy for cows. Today, Wagyu cattle is raised in Australia and the U.S. where there is an abundance of grazing land and they are bred and fed to exacting Japanese secifications. But to be legally called Kobe Beef, the cattle has to be slaughtered in Kobe Japan.
Speaking of which, it has been rumored that they make the cattle drink large amounts sake to make them drunk before bringing them to the slaughterhouse. I don't know if that's true, but it kinda makes sense. Drunk cow = more relaxed = more tender meat. If I were going to be slaughtered, I'd prefer to be drunk too.
