The Iowa Beef Industry Council, U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Meat Export Federation sponsored the U.S. Prime Rib and Fine Wine Reception which was held last March 26 at the Marco Polo Plaza Hotel. Your favorite food columnist was invited by Jimmy Escaño of JEDCO and could never miss an opportunity to savor a juicy piece of steak.
The US Cattle and Beef Industry in 2007 is valued, excuse me, at only $74 billion. In that same year, America produced about 24 billion pounds (commercial carcass weight of 34.3 million cattle) and exported 1.431 billion pounds worth $2.175 billion. This beef went to Mexico (US$732 million), Canada (US$575 million), Japan (US$294 million) and South Korea (US$124, http://www.ers.usda.gov).
That’s plenty of steak gyud!
A steak (from Old Norse steik, “roast”) is “a slice of meat, typically beef or fish. In North America, steaks are typically served grilled, though they are also often pan-fried.” Since the meat is cooked quickly, usually the tenderest cuts are used and Akira Kazama, a restaurant owner in Tokyo, estimates that only 25 kilos are used in cattle that weighs 600 kilos. It is perceived that steaks are relatively expensive (steak dinner at Kazama’s restaurant starts at US $ 400 for a steak of 250 grams or eight ounces, with wine, $500 lang!) and eating steak is a “signifier of relative wealth.”
In Texas, USA, everything is big and the biggest steaks are served in the Big Texan Steak Ranch Restaurant in Amarillo Texas. They sponsor a steak-eating contest, serving 72 Oz Steak (2.25 kilos) to be consumed in one hour. Professional baseball pitcher Frank Pastore of the Cincinnati Reds ate one in 9.5 minutes! I wonder if he is a member of La Chaine des Rotisseurs?
Beef steak comes from cattle (often referred to as cows!) and when the topic is beef, invariably, the word “Kobe” is mentioned. True Kobe Beef is produced in the Hyogo prefecture (capital, Kobe) in Japan, from a type of cattle called Wagyu (wa means Japanese and gyu means cattle). It is characterized by bright red meat with pure white, extensively marbled fat or what Chef de Cuisine David Varley of Las Vegas’ Bradley Ogden Restaurant calls, “an ungodly amount of fat.” Wagyu drinks Japanese beer and sake (giving a higher percentage of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids!) and enjoys a massage every day until its day of service to humanity.
Increasing popularity of Kobe beef in the U.S. has led to the creation of “Kobe-style” beef. In 1976, the first Wagyu bulls, two each of the Tottori Black and Kumamoto Red breeds, arrived in the U.S. and today, the largest purebred group of the Wagyu breed of Akaushi cattle outside Japan is located in Harwood, Texas, owned by Heart Brand Beef. It was raised from a Japanese imported herd of 11 until the herd grew to over 5,000 heads.
These domestically-raised Wagyu were crossbred with Angus cattle (a breed of cattle that consistently produces well marbled beef, considered America’s finest beef. The best Angus meat is labelled “Certified Angus Beef.” ) and the American Kobe was born. Murag American Ninja!
Cheaper land and feed cost in the United States convinced Japanese ranchers to ship young cattle there and raising it to the exacting standards then importing the butchered meat, and selling it as true Kobe beef. However, U.S meat producers claim that any differences between their less expensive Kobe-style beef and true Kobe beef are largely cosmetic.
The beef produced, whether American Kobe or True Kobe becomes, ahem, valuable inputs for the US Cattle and Beef Industry and opportunities for your favourite food columnist to taste and savour.
At the U.S. Prime Rib and Fine Wine Reception, I visited every dish starting at the Vanilla-Cured Gravlax with Apple Compote and Hazelnuts, Chilli-Seared Ahi Tuna with Mango Relish and Wasabi, Maple-Smoked Salmon Satay with Chilli Oil, Caramelized Leeks and Fresh Herbs with Smoked Duck and Goat Cheese Quiche, Mini Roasted Vegetable and Pesto Calzone and I found a new favourite, the Crab and Papaya Salad with Peanuts and Thai Basil on Fried Taro.
But surely, my sights were definitely on the U.S. Beef Prime, oven roasted to perfection and I had only one slice. Honest, only one!
