Kobe Beef

Kobe beef was originated in Japan; eating meat from four legged animals was prohibited in Japan for more than a thousand years prior to 1868. This ban was especially strict during the EdoPeriod (1603-1867). Buddhist influences were primarily responsible for this dietary restriction, but other cultural factors and the need to protect draught animals in times of famine may have reinforced the taboo. After the Meiji Restoration in 1868, the new leaders of Japan wanted, among other things, to reduce traditional social barriers and to encourage the adoption of beneficial Western habits. Despite the prohibition against the eating of meat in the late 1860’s, the consumption of meat remained extremely low for another century. Until very recent times meat usually meant pork in eastern Japan and beef in western Japan. Historically, and even today, the people of the Kinki Region (Kyoto, Kobe, and Osaka) have been the heaviest beef eaters. An exclusive grade of beef from cattle raised in Kobe, Japan is how the name came about. The cattle are massaged and fed a special diet that includes some amounts of beer. This specialized treatment results in beef that is extraordinarily tender and full-flavored. It also makes the beef very expensive, which is why it's rarely available in the United States. The massive increase in popularity of Kobe beef in the United States has led to the creation of "Kobe-style" beef, taken from domestically-raised Wagyu crossbred with Angus in order to meet the demand. Farms in America and Britain have attempted to replicate the Kobe cattle. U.S meat producers claim that any differences between their less expensive "Kobe-style" beef and true Kobe beef are not largely different. Kobe cattle are fed American and British grass. Which is different from the more expensive Japanese feed. After all beef imports into the USA from Japan were banned on September 10 2001, due to the discovery of Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as Mad-Cow Disease (MCD), many retailers began to heavily market the U.S. raised beef as "Kobe-style". The ban on the import of Wagyu beef to the United States ended on December 12, 2005. Now that Kobe beef is so popular and is a known as a high quality of beef it’s in your and my best interest to try it!

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wagyu

www.1stflash.com/files/Kobe-Wagyu-Beef.htm