The month of May is very pleasant for discovering Japan. Temperatures range between 10 and 15°C in the morning and 20 to 25°C in the afternoon, and a beautiful blue sky makes us think of holidays.
For me, it is a dream time to introduce my Spanish friends Jose Carlos Capel, gastronomy critic for the daily El País, and Julia Perez Sanchez, gastronomy critic for El Mundo, to what Japanese beef truly is, whether wagyu or hybrid.
Here is the first post of our discovery pilgrimage, which will last one week.
1st stage: trip to the island of Shikoku
Our first stop is on the island of Shikoku, in Kagawa Prefecture, in the surroundings of Takamatsu. This region is the heartland of the highly regarded Olive Gyu (beef whose finishing is completed with roasted olive cake). I invite you to discover this beef in a previous post published on my blog.
Meeting with a Sanuki Olive Wagyu and F1 cattle breeder
We visit Mr Kamada's farm in the Manocho district, a breeder-finisher of around 500 Sanuki Olive Wagyu and 4,500 F1 cattle (pronounced F One in English).
F1 cattle cannot benefit from the wagyu designation as they result from crossbreeding between a wagyu and another breed. This breed is generally a Prim'holstein.
The Wagyu designation
This point is very important as the European market is currently flooded with pseudo wagyu, reared in France, Spain, Australia, Chile, Argentina, Belgium, Germany… There is no legislation in Europe regulating the wagyu designation, which is deeply regrettable as it is liable to mislead consumers. All these non-Japanese wagyu come from crossbreeding and are in no way of pure lineage. They result from crossbreeding between wagyu or wagyu embryos and cattle breeds with an interesting propensity for intramuscular marbling, such as Normande, Salers, Aubrac, Angus…
In Japan, in order to benefit from the wagyu designation, it is imperative to be able to prove the parental lineage. So if you purchase wagyu beef other than that coming directly from Japan, be aware that it is not wagyu but F1. This does not necessarily mean the meat is of lower quality (though 90% is of very low quality, more specifically those from Chile, Argentina, Australia…), but it should nonetheless be offered at much more affordable prices.
So let us give Japan what belongs to Japan and respect the fabulous expertise of Japanese breeders who have never ceased, over the past century, to work towards improving their national gastronomic treasure: Wagyu (Wa = Japan, Gyu = beef, wagyu = Japanese beef).
Discovering Mr Kamada's wagyu farm
There are very few breeder-finishers for wagyu farms. Calves are mainly purchased at auction from the age of 8 to 10 months, then enter finishing farms until slaughter between 25 and 30 months.
Mr Kamada is therefore a specialist in wagyu and F1 breeding. Around 80% of his animals are steers (castrated males) and 20% are heifers. The wagyu are exclusively destined for the Sanuki Olive Gyu designation (beef from Sanuki finished on olive cake).
Mr Kamada also cultivates sunflowers on his land for the production of edible oil. Inspired by the success of the Sanuki Olive Gyu finished on olive cake, he has, over the past 2 years, conducted trials on his F1 cattle, supplementing their diet — already very rich in cereals, rice straw, etc. — With sunflower cake.
It is remarkable to observe the major consequence of this dietary supplement on the animal's fat: an oleic acid content of 47.1%! That is as much as Iberian pork!
From a taste perspective, the palate is sublime: a silky richness that does not coat, no astringency, a fabulous juiciness, and a delightful sweetness.
The cattle are slaughtered on average at 25 months, with an average live weight of 850 to 900 kg and a carcass weight exceeding 550 kg.
At auction, the average classification announced is B3 (A is reserved for wagyu) and a marbling score of 5 to 7.
This meat is tremendously interesting for our European palates on several counts:
- Very tender,
- very well marbled,
- very flavoursome,
- very juicy,
- a pleasant sweetness,
- a fat content closer to our European benchmarks,
- a magnificent aptitude for long ageing,
- a more attractive price point compared to wagyu,
- a flavour equivalent to wagyu when the animal has excellent genetics and carefully managed rearing, which is the case for the animals from Mr Kamada's farm.
Savour Boeuf Himawari soon
As you will have gathered, I am preparing to import this Japanese F1 beef very soon, under the name Boeuf Himawari du Japon.
Boeuf Himawari literally translates as "sunflower beef". Discover below 5 visuals used to promote this beef in Japan, a more indulgent adaptation of Van Gogh's sunflowers.
