Descripción y Cata de la Carne de Wagyu
Description
Esteutz Wagyu beef is sourced from 100% purebred Wagyu (Japanese cow) animals, sourced from embryos imported from Australia and certified by the AWA, with at least the last four generations certified as “pure breed.”
Breeding and raising animals take place at the Esteutz farm in Hondarribia, where the animals graze freely until they are 20 months old and are fattened from 20 months old until slaughter at 30 to 40 months old.
Only castrated male animals are slaughtered before they reach one year of age.
Tasting
The meat is highly prized for its flavor, tenderness, and “shimofuri” fat marbling, which means it has a high degree of infiltrated fat that melts at low temperatures, giving the meat its “melt-in-your-mouth” characteristic.
Technical Data
It is particularly interesting to note that the chemical composition of the meat from Esteutz differs from that of conventional meats, primarily due to its higher fat content and lower moisture content.
At each slaughter, samples are sent for laboratory grading, with the following results:
According to Japanese Beef Grading (Busboom and Reeves), all samples showed an “excellent” level of marbling.
According to the Beef Color Standard (BCS), Beef Fat Standard (BCS), and Beef Marbling Standard, the marbling obtained in six samples of Mugaburu meat yields grades between 9 and 11 on a scale of 0 to 12.
Six samples from different Mugaburu animals were analyzed, and comparing the results with beef, it was found that Mugaburu meat had a higher oleic acid content (39 to 42%) and a lower saturated fatty acid content. The conclusion is that this meat has a healthier fatty acid profile than veal and a very low cholesterol content.
Wagyu vs Kobe
Wagyu
“Wagyu” literally means “Japanese cattle.”
Wagyu beef can come from one of the four main breeds of cattle in Japan:
- Japanese Black
- Japanese Brown
- Japanese Poll
- Japanese Shorthorn
And the resulting crossbreeds between them.
It is not possible to call the animal “Wagyu” if it does not come from Japanese breeds.
According to Larry Olmsted, a writer for Forbes, some ranchers have imported purebred Wagyu cattle to the United States, but few have maintained the bloodlines at 100%, with the documentation to prove it.
Olmsted believes that even the term “purebred Wagyu,” used by the American Wagyu Association, does not refer to a completely pure animal but rather a mix with other breeds.
Kobe
Kobe beef comes from the “Tajima” bloodline of Japanese Black Wagyu cattle, one of the four breeds of Wagyu cattle.
The purity of the Tajima bloodline isn’t the only criterion to consider.
The terms “Kobe beef,” “Kobe-gyu,” “Tajima-gyu,” and “Tajima Beef” are registered trademarks in Japan.
Meat from Tajima-gyu cows must also meet very strict standards to obtain “Kobe beef” certification.
In addition to being purebred Tajima cattle, the cattle must:
- Be born and raised in Hyogo Prefecture.
- Be slaughtered at designated slaughterhouses.
- Have a BMS (marbling index) of 6 or higher (on a scale of 12).
- Have a gross carcass weight of 470 kilograms or less.
- Meet a yield score—a grade based on the percentage of edible cuts that can be obtained from a single head of cattle—of A or B (ranging from A to C).
The cattle are fed only the finest feed available in Japan: rice straw, corn, barley, and other grains.
The beef is highly prized for its flavor, tenderness, and “shimofuri” (fat marbling), which means it has a high degree of infiltrated fat that melts at low temperatures, giving the beef its “melt-in-your-mouth” characteristic.
There are a limited number (about 3,000 head) of certified beef, and all are in Japan, according to the Kobe Beef Marketing & Distribution Promotion Association.
It is false that the animals are fed beer. This myth stems from marketing work carried out about 30 years ago by a certain Japanese restaurant that claimed its cattle were fed beer.
It is false that the animals are massaged. The origin of this myth is unknown, but giving daily massages of just 10 minutes to cattle about to be slaughtered would require an absolutely prohibitive number of employees for an average farm with 100 animals, let alone the farms that exist in Australia with more than 1,000 cattle.
