Exposing the Myth of Marbled Meat. Japanese marbled beef (kobe meat)

There are many varieties of meat products. But not all of them are equally valuable and useful. Marbled beef can play an important role in the modern diet, so consumers need to clearly understand what its features are.

What is it and how is it obtained?

Real marbled beef is notable for its high cost: if “something like that” is sold at the lowest price, they are probably offering a fake. This type of meat got its name because of the way it looks. Fat veins form a kind of ornament, which evokes associations with the appearance of a marble slab. But the high popularity and excellent culinary ratings are associated not only with an unusual external appearance.

This type of meat has an unusual taste - ordinary beef is simply not so tender.

Farmers do not produce "marbled" pork, mutton or other meat. Only scammers sell such a product.

But there is one more nuance: knowing the name of the breed of cows (“Altai” or any other), which gives marbled meat, is not enough for success. It is necessary to create special conditions. In the past, marbled beef was produced only by Japanese peasants. For this purpose, they raised bulls and cows of a strictly defined breed. Such great importance of these animals was the source of the ban on their export. Only in recent decades has the ban been broken. And yet, the practice developed over the centuries makes itself felt - Japanese marbled meat remains the most valuable in the 21st century. The method of raising livestock, as already noted, means a lot.

Carefully developed methodology includes:

• special food;
• minimization of motor activity of cows;
• special manipulations that are not practiced with other breeds.

Cows stand in the most narrow stalls: the less space they have, the less often they move. Therefore, the share of muscles is reduced and the tasty part of the carcass increases. But bedsores and other manifestations of insufficient mobility can also adversely affect the finished product. Therefore, in cowsheds where marbled meat is produced, vibration massage is mandatory for animals. Some farms even play classical music to keep the cows calm.

But the content regime is not everything. Unlike conventional farms, they do not seek to transfer livestock to "adult" feed as soon as possible. In the first 6 months of life, cows are given exclusively milk and are carefully monitored to ensure that there are no other components in their diet. When the time comes for full grazing, only wild meadows are used for this purpose. There, at rest and away from sources of pollution, it turns out to achieve an optimal result.

Later, the cows are moved to special pens. Now they are given first-class grain, and to stimulate their appetite, they drink alcohol. This is generally standard technology. However, all firms have original approaches that will obviously not be disclosed publicly. The secret of those treatments that are used after the slaughter of cattle is even more carefully guarded.

In addition to the Wagyu and Aberdeen Angus breeds, other types of cattle - Aquitaine and Hereford - can be used to produce marbled meat. In addition to Japan, marbled beef is also mass-produced in Argentina, Australia, the United States of America and New Zealand. Recently, this production has been mastered in Russia. True, due to the specific features of the technology, only large agricultural holdings can produce such a product. Specialists in the field of culinary arts have long figured out where samples of products of unsurpassed quality are obtained. They are not even supplied from all of Japan, but only from the area around the city of Kobe, which gave the name to this variety.

Aquitaine

Hereford

For 1 kg of such marbled meat, the owners of elite restaurants and chefs are ready to pay 200-700 dollars. And such a deal is clearly profitable. You can grow a bull for marbled meat in at least 2 years and 6 months. And direct preparation for slaughter - grain fattening, lasts from 200 to 300 days. The whole process is carefully controlled by veterinarians and other specialists.

Types of marbling

Marble meat in any case is not something homogeneous, it is divided into different types. The most well-fed young growth allows you to get beef of the "prime" variety. It has a lot of fat, in addition to a piece uniformly distributed over the volume. It is this product that is the most expensive in most restaurants. Marbled beef at this level is recommended for grilling, roasting, or other dry-roasting methods.

Somewhat inferior to her meat category "choice". It can also be considered very high quality, but the marbling is already noticeably less. A cut, as well as choise-type steaks, are always juicy, tender and fragrant. It is especially recommended to use pieces cut from the back and waist of a cow.

In principle, this meat can also be heated dry. However, time limits must be strictly observed.

Choice level marbled beef, if taken from other parts of the carcass, must be stewed or simmered. For this purpose, a frying pan is used, into which a small amount of liquid is poured. The pan must be completely covered with a lid. As for the marbled meat of the "select" group, the opinion of professional culinary specialists is unequivocal - only the most tender parts are suitable for dry heat treatment. Everything else should be soaked in marinades in advance, while deviating from the proportions indicated in the recipes is undesirable.

It is important to understand that "choice", "prime" and "select" are the levels of the American classification of marbled meat (other states have their own approaches). In the United States, beef is also distinguished as "standard" and "commercial". However, these two categories are not recommended by professional chefs for cooking steaks. Theoretically, this is possible, but the result is unlikely to cause delight. The taste of such a dish can hardly be called special.

The Japanese system distinguishes 5 groups of marbled meat. The 5th category is considered the most solid.

A similar product is sent only to high-end restaurants. Moreover, the orders of establishments in the Land of the Rising Sun are first executed. Only then the goods are sent abroad. The 3rd and 4th categories are the same marbled meat, which can mainly be found in Europe and Asia. The last two categories are the most affordable.

But a product of comparable quality grown in other countries is even cheaper. Therefore, such meat is not in special demand. The Australian food industry uses a classification of marbling into 9 groups. The best among them is the ninth group. Naturally, a product of a higher class is less common.

How is it different from the usual?

But marbled beef, whatever grade it may be, has significant differences from ordinary meat. As you might guess, this product is obtained only from meat breeds. At the same time, livestock is slaughtered at an early age. A characteristic pattern similar to noble marble is not the only advantage of such beef. It cooks extremely quickly, you can get excellent steaks in a few minutes.

In Russia, Aberdeen Angus bulls are mainly used for the production of marbled meat. They are kept in the cleanest areas where they are fed with meadow herbs.

Animal nutrition does not contain any hormonal additives, and there are no medicines. After all, the cattle are perfectly healthy and are in ideal conditions for life. Therefore, there is simply no need to treat it. Often, before being sent to retail outlets and restaurant kitchens, marbled beef undergoes special processing for full maturation.

Compound

For 100 g of marbled beef, there are 10 g of fat and 18 g of protein. This is respectively 22.7 and 12% of the daily requirement for adults engaged in moderately hard work. But besides the main components, there are other substances, microelements in the meat. The concentration of saturated acids reaches 3.25 g.

41 mg of cholesterol is concentrated in 100 g of marbled beef, therefore its presence cannot be ignored.

This type of meat is saturated with water - its concentration is 69.3%. Thanks to 20 mg of calcium, the product is quite useful for the skeletal system and nervous tissue. 207 mg of phosphorus will help improve the functioning of the brain, which is extremely important in our turbulent times. Since meat contains significant amounts of magnesium and especially potassium, it helps to improve cardiac activity.

Of the other trace elements, it is worth noting the presence of:

• copper;
• Selena;
• magnesium;
• manganese;
• gland;
• zinc.

But in addition to inorganic substances, marbled beef contains quite a lot of vitamins. Among them it is worth noting:

Vitamins are present in smaller amounts:

• choline.

Benefit and harm

Marble beef, due to its low nutritional value, is one of the dietary meat products. The concentration of cholesterol in it is noticeably less than even in lean cow meat. Therefore, this type of food does not increase blood pressure, eliminates the likelihood of the formation of vascular plaques. The fat that occupies the spaces between the muscles is mainly composed of unsaturated fatty acids. Therefore, it does not harm even with a significant likelihood of atherosclerotic and cardiovascular disorders.

The protein that is part of marbled meat is considered complete. That is, it contains 100% of vital amino acids.

Therefore, there is no need to compensate for the need for them by using other (less useful) products. Choline, aka B4, plays an important role in metabolism. This substance also improves the functioning of the autonomic nervous system, promotes the conduction of electrical impulses.

Thanks to cyanocobolamin, marbled meat activates hematopoiesis. Therefore, this product is deservedly considered useful for anemia.

As for vitamin B12, it helps to normalize the intestinal microflora and strengthen the immune system. Nicotinic acid has a positive effect on the state of various vessels. It is especially valuable for the vital activity of the heart and brain.

Marble meat, due to its high phosphorus content, helps to improve the production of various enzymes and hormonal regulation. This chemical element is also extremely valuable in the production of proteins, lipids, and other substances that form cell walls. Therefore, the recovery of the body is improved even after serious illnesses or exhausting operations. The iron in marbled beef differs in an accessible form for assimilation.

An excellent balance of substances, coupled with a limited calorie content, makes marbled meat a very healthy type of food. For those suffering from cardiac diseases, it is attractive not only because of the reduction in cholesterol levels. This product helps to stabilize the frequency of contractions of the indefatigable muscle. In addition, the expansion of peripheral vessels removes part of the load from it. With neurological disorders, a very serious advantage is the optimization of blood circulation in the brain.

It has been proven that eating marbled meat can increase the reaction rate. It is possible in some cases to cope with violations of the transmission of the nerve signal.

It is noted that this product helps to increase the level of hemoglobin.

Marble meat helps to recover faster after burns and serious infections. It is useful when hormonal dysfunction develops (if the work of the hypothalamus and pituitary gland is abnormal or if diabetes mellitus occurs).

For those and others, it will be attractive to enrich the body with useful substances in general. Whether marbled meat protects against malignant neoplasms, experts have not figured it out yet. Some sources answer this question in the affirmative. Professionals note that this may be due to the high concentration of vitamins.

With all the positive characteristics of marbled beef, a certain risk cannot be ignored. A significant concentration of protein can increase the concentration of purine bases in the body. If it grows, then you can be afraid:

• renal colic;
• attacks of gout;
• exacerbation of osteochondrosis.

Oversaturation of the diet with fats sometimes causes exacerbation of cholecystitis and pancreatitis. Since elite meats contain many active substances, increased secretion of gastric juice is likely. Therefore, the condition of patients with peptic ulcer may worsen. Principal contraindications for the use of marbled beef are allergic reactions and intolerance to individual components. Taking into account these subtleties, 99% of the negative consequences can be eliminated; another 1% may be associated with the choice of low-quality meat and its improper storage.

Nutritional value and calorie content of meat

The energy value of marbled beef is 170 kcal per 100 g. Therefore, this portion allows you to close 8% of the daily energy requirement. But it is important to understand that this is only an average figure. The actual value may depend on the specific source, on the method of production and breed of livestock, and even on the expiration date. But there is no particular difference in the nutritional value of marbled beef dishes.

Storage

You can buy marbled beef only in large retail chains. The minimum cost of the product starts from $ 25 per 1 kg. Russian products can be cheaper than imported ones, but by a maximum of 5-8%. Connoisseurs recommend purchasing only lumpy food that is vacuum-packed. It is necessary to carefully look at whether the characteristic pattern is clearly visible, therefore it is advisable to buy marbled meat in a transparent container.

Even experienced chefs and nutritionists advise reading labels. There, manufacturers must indicate:

• what breed of cattle was used;
• in what area (not the country as a whole!) animals grew;
• how long the cows or bulls have been slaughtered;
• marbling category;
• the method by which meat was brought to maturity.

Dry maturation mainly involves processing the meat along with the skin. The pieces are hung in the refrigerator at a temperature strictly from 1 to 4 degrees Celsius. The processing time is 15-28 days. When maturity is reached, the skin is removed and subcutaneous fat is removed, the product is divided into cuts. Wet technique includes:

• exsanguination;
• cooling down to 0 degrees;
• storage in a vacuum package in an industrial refrigerator (from 10 to 20 days).

Regardless of the production method, beef is recommended to be stored at temperatures from 1.5 to 0.5 degrees.

This mode prevents freezing and at the same time guarantees optimal cooling. Strict observance of such requirements still allows you to restore the original culinary characteristics of the product by 100%. The development of pathological bacteria is excluded, which is extremely important for food safety.

cooking recipes

Just keeping marbled beef is not enough. You still need to properly process it and get a delicious dish. The approach largely depends on the type of cut that is planned to be used. So, the flesh of the thigh has a rather high rigidity. Therefore, it is necessary to cook this part of the carcass longer than usual, then it will become much softer and more palatable.

Experienced chefs advise baking beef thigh. This processing method will significantly improve the taste and get an appetizing crispy crust. But even before cooking, it takes some time to just leave the meat alone. When it is removed from the vacuum package, it should be saturated with atmospheric oxygen.

If this requirement is not observed, it will not be possible to reveal its taste as it should.

The later baked beef is left to "relax" under a layer of foil. The residual heat will allow the juices to be evenly distributed throughout the piece. The temperature will become even. Such techniques are invariably used by haute cuisine chefs, even if they are in a hurry to bring the dish to the table. This is how the beef is cooked truly tender and juicy; but still it is worth improving its taste by preparing the sauce at your discretion.

Many are interested not only in baking, but also in the preparation of marbled beef in a slow cooker. With it, you can get an excellent steak. To do this, take a cut with a layer of 1.5 cm. The degree of roasting of the steak can be different. In any case, you can get a fragrant, tasty dish, if you only strictly follow all the standard rules. Processing a beef steak seasoned with coriander and rosemary will take a maximum of 20 minutes.

To work, you need 250 g of meat and 25 g of vegetable oil. Marinating a piece grated with a mixture of spices and salt lasts about 30 minutes. The multicooker is given the command to work in the mode of frying meat. It is not necessary to close the lid, it is required to turn the piece over 10 minutes after the start of cooking.

The Provencal method of processing involves languishing in its own juice. This method is attractive in that there is no need to continuously monitor the state of the piece and rotate it periodically. Readiness control takes over the timer. In this recipe, 500 g of meat should have 60 g of sunflower and olive oils.

Beef meat according to the Provencal recipe is cooked in slices into portions. Marinating takes place in a film under the influence of a mixture of olive oil and a selection of Mediterranean herbs. It takes 24 hours to marinate a piece. It takes 4-5 minutes to fry marbled beef on 1 side. If the goal is to achieve a crispy crust, you need to fry for 7 minutes. Serve the dish on the table already slightly chilled.

The recommended side dish is made from fresh vegetables. In an effort to enhance and diversify the taste, you can combine different sets of seasonings, their proportions. But at the same time, one must remember about the compatibility of individual products and the fact that excessive saturation of taste can spoil the impression. When choosing the duration of cooking, it is worth considering the power of the multicooker.

Some fans of original dishes prefer red wine-based sauce. For him take (for 1 serving):

• 130 ml of wine;
• 200 ml of meat broth;
• 70 g cream;
• 100 g of cognac.

The onion is cut relatively finely and fried. By introducing cognac, pepper, the mixture is set on fire. As soon as the fire goes out, pour the cream. The mixture is boiled. Salt last, adjust the spiciness of salting to your liking.

It should be noted that you can also fry chop, cook schnitzels, meatballs and many other dishes from marbled beef. Therefore, it would be unreasonable to limit yourself to steaks alone. You should definitely try at least once and completely different options. First of all, we are talking about goulash with gravy. It is prepared using pieces of meat with a thickness of 3 to 5 cm. They use a little spices, but be sure to take a mixture of aromatic herbs and olive oil. The amount of oil, pepper and salt is selected individually. Frying in a pan on one side takes 3 minutes. Therefore, after 6 minutes, you can transfer the meat to the oven for another 5 minutes.

If, when pierced with a knife, a weakness of roasting is found, it is necessary to refine the beef in the oven in the same mode for another 2 or 3 minutes. But it should be borne in mind that the weakest and strongest roasting for marbled meat cannot be used.

You can use this product for classic European dishes such as tartare and carpaccio and even for regular roasts. However, with marbled meat, even the usual food is transformed.

How to make a delicious dish of marbled beef, see the following video.

The most expensive meat in the world is marbled beef. This is a product for real gourmets, which is often put on a par with such delicacies as black caviar and foie gras. What is so unusual about a simple piece of beef? Why is it classified as a premium product?

This meat delicacy got its name for its special appearance. Each piece of marbled beef seems to be pierced with a thin cobweb of adipose tissues, which form a bizarre pattern reminiscent of the pattern of natural stone. Pale pink meat with ornate white stains is really very reminiscent of marble - as if an artist had worked on it. In addition, the product is valued for its amazing taste, juiciness and compliance with gastronomic processing.

During the heat treatment, the snow-white layers of fat inside the marbled piece of meat dissolve, literally melt, like snow in the spring sun. Thanks to this, the marbled meat is filled with juice and becomes tender. The thinner the fat patterns and the more of them, the higher the indicator of the so-called "marbling". This means higher prices and better quality. Professionals distinguish three categories of marbled beef meat:

1. Prime- the highest grade
2. Choise- selected meat,
3. Select- regular marbled beef.

The marble pattern on the meat is the result of the hard work of the farm workers. To get premium beef, you need to create special conditions for keeping bulls. For six months they are on a milk diet, then they graze on ecologically clean meadows. Juicy green grass and fresh air do their job: the calves gain weight well. Then matured animals are fattened with grain, their cereal diet is wheat, corn and barley. At the same time, they are not subjected to physical stress, which is very important for obtaining meat without coarse muscle tissue.

According to the classical rules for fattening calves for the production of marbled beef, in addition to the unique nutrition system, animals are also required to drink beer to improve their appetite and special vibration massage to calm music. It is in such conditions that the inhabitants of Japanese farms are kept. By the way, it is this country that is a pioneer in breeding cattle breeds that produce marbled beef. There, such meat is called food, for the use of which "you do not need to have teeth." Not surprisingly, in such conditions, oriental bulls produce beef that melts in your mouth.

Classical music is not played on our farm, but we can get marbled meat as well as the Japanese. Historically, in our country, raising calves using a unique technology began with the light hand of Nikita Khrushchev. He was so impressed with the taste of marbled beef steak, which he tasted in the United States, that a special farm was soon equipped to fatten animals using this method. In Russia, for a long time this meat was a delicacy for the highest circles. And only in recent years, premium beef began to be served in restaurants.

It is quite possible to cook a royal dish at home. It is only necessary to choose marbled beef meat of excellent quality - environmentally friendly and fresh.

Unforgettable taste sensations are guaranteed!

First, a little about how things stand with knowledge not among us, consumers, but among those who call themselves professionals.

1. Ignorance of Moscow restaurants
During these 3 years, I visited many restaurants in Moscow and not only, where I paid attention to what they write on the menu about the proposed steaks, and concluded that only some Moscow establishments correctly present the culture of marbled meat. That is, if you open an institution where you serve a steak and mention such terms as "Wagoo" or "Kobi" on the menu, it is your duty to tell the guest what it is. If you don't want to bother, just write "marble meat, Australia". Since the ignorance of the restaurant is picked up by the guest and, foaming at the mouth, then tells his friends that he ate Vagu in the restaurant and that this is the coolest meat. Friends tell their friends. Information is overgrown with rumors and as a result we have uneducated guests and all sorts of myths that an acquaintance of an acquaintance ate magic beef from a bull in some restaurant in Moscow, who lived in a spa in Japan, he was given a massage, and then he was delivered first class to Moscow to be eaten. Such uneducated guests then come with the haughty air of a connoisseur and treat the waiter with their pseudo-knowledge of Vagu meat. Thus, there is only one conclusion - the guest should be unobtrusively educated, interested, and the guest should not be told stories.

2. Ignorance of Moscow suppliers
The normal desire of a restaurant is to get the best from suppliers. You have to fight for this, especially if you have a small and start-up enterprise. The best goes to the network monsters. In this fight, literally, for a piece of meat, I constantly tried to understand why one supply is better than another, asked a lot of questions to suppliers, read about meat. And besides other conclusions, I made this - managers who work with restaurant clients do not have the correct system of knowledge about their product - marbled meat. This applies to such monsters as MARR Russia, the Australian Trading House, Snow World, East-West. Not a single manager I worked with from these companies could clearly explain to me what is the difference between Australian, American and Japanese meat, which is better, why Kobi is from Australia, which is Kobi or Kobo correct, and Kobo is better than Wagyu or Wagyu, etc. .d. They all got off with a rude sale of what they had, and they knew little about what they had.

3. What is marbled meat?
I am sure that I will not reveal the secret by answering this question. But it's worth telling. Marbling means only one thing - the presence of a sufficient amount of fatty inclusions in meat fibers. Marble meat does not mean that the bull was mocked: hung up, massaged and turned on Cafe del Mar. And it doesn't have to be from Japan. Marble meat of different breeds, including chili and Japanese breeds, is grown in different countries: in the USA, Australia, Japan, South America (Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, France, etc.). Marbling is achieved by a special technology for fattening livestock. The diet of animals includes a special feed mixture containing a large amount of corn, grain, alfalfa. Marbling has its own gradations depending on its intensity, that is, the frequency of white inclusions in the fibers. The higher the marbling, the more tender the steak. American statistics even calculated the coefficients of customers dissatisfied with the quality of the steak, depending on the degree of marbling. The American gradation of meat suggests three degrees of marbling: select, choice, premium.
4. Magical Japanese meat: what are Wagu and Kobi, why do Moscow restaurants call beef from America and Australia "Kobi"?

1) Real Kobi can only be from Japan and must meet the following conditions:
a) Tajima bull born in Hyōgo Prefecture, Kinki region on Honshu Island, whose capital is Kobi;
b) The steer must be fed in Hyōgo Prefecture
c) The bull must be castrated or be a virgin, which makes the meat cleaner (as Anatole said, after castration, the animal gains weight, and plus - the meat does not stink)
d) The steer must be killed in one of these cities in Hyōgo Prefecture: Kobe, Nishinomiya, Sanda, Kakogawa, or Himeji.
e) On the Japanese marbling scale (called BMS), beef must be graded 6 or higher.
f) The quality of the meat according to the Japanese gradation must be A or B
g) The total weight of the bull must not exceed 470 kg.

2) The term Wagyu primarily means a family of several breeds of bulls that are genetically predisposed to intense marbling of meat. The most famous Japanese breeds of the Wagyu group are Tajima, Tottori, Shimane, Kochi and Kumamoto. It is from the Tajima breed that Kobi is made. Thus, the term Wagyu is broader than Kobe. Kobi is the finished meat of an already slaughtered Tajima steer that has been reared and slaughtered under certain conditions (see point 1). Thus, Kobi is not a bull breed, but a combination of methods for rearing and slaughtering Tajima bulls. That is, a live bull cannot be called Kobe, it must be called Tajima, but a piece of raw meat is Kobe. Wagyu etymologists: "WA" means "Japanese", and "GU" - cattle, that is, "WAGU" is a JAPANESE COW.

3) Why do Moscow restaurants and suppliers call beef from America and Australia "Kobi"?
When the Wagyu gobies were brought to America, they were crossed with the Angus gobies for the following reasons: 1) in order for the animals to survive in the American climate; 2) in order to find the optimal balance of marbling for the American buyer, as the average American buyer called the meat of the original Wagyu - "too white". The resulting bull, in agreement with Japan, was called not "Kobi" or "Wagu", but "American Style Kobe Beef". The diet of such a bull: a mix of corn, pearl barley, alfalfa, wheat straw. The bull is usually slaughtered at the age of 30-35 months. Australians breed both purebred Wagyu and crossbreds, and the Australian Wagyu Association is the largest Wagyu breeder association outside of Japan.

THEREFORE, THE FOLLOWING CONCLUSIONS CAN BE DONE:

1) Beef can be called Kobi only if it meets all Japanese conditions, in other words, Kobi is only Japanese beef;

2) You can not call beef Kobe or Wag if it is from America, the correct name for it is American Style Kobe Beef or "Kobe in the American manner."

3) Purebred Wagu except Japan are exported ONLY from Australia! And they are cheaper than Wagu gobies from Japan. So if you want purebred VAGU, but cheap - eat VAGU from Australia.

This is a special product, characterized by the presence of many fatty layers that make the meat very juicy and tender. The tenderloin looks unusual - the pink color is riddled with white stains, which forms the marbling of the meat. During cooking, the fat layers are melted, filling the dish with juice, due to which it acquires a unique softness and aroma. The most expensive meat is the one in which the maximum number of such layers.

What is marbled meat

More often this term is used for beef (beef), but it can also be used for pork, horse meat (cutting of the Yakut horse). Marble meat is a piece of red fillet that contains a sufficient amount of intramuscular fat, arranged in layers, and resembles a marble pattern. In young cows and bulls, marbling is rare, since in veal fat develops first in the region of the heart, kidneys, near the pelvis (under the skin). Only after the maturation of the animal, fatty fibers begin to form in the intermuscular space and directly inside the muscles.

What is the difference between marbled beef and regular beef?

There are two main types of cows - beef and dairy breeds. The latter are designed to give milk, which is what they do all their lives. When a cow of this breed gets old, it is allowed to be slaughtered. Such meat is sold in markets and supermarkets. Beef cows are specially bred to be slaughtered after a certain period of fattening (grain or grass). Such animals are genetically disposed to the growth of intramuscular fat, due to which the beef has a marbled pattern.

The meat with streaks of fat is very soft, juicy and tender. Marble veal does not often enter the store shelves, it is highly valued, since it requires strict adherence to cultivation technology. Marble pork, like beef, is considered a delicacy due to its small share in the total volume of meat products produced, while the demand for it is increasing. Selected steak with fatty layers is cooked very quickly - young meat takes only a few minutes.

How marbled beef is grown

On the territory of the Russian Federation, the selection of beef cattle is only gaining momentum. One of the leaders in this agricultural segment is the Zarechnoye group of companies, which manufacture products under the Primebeef brand. This marbled meat is obtained from Aberdeen Angus bulls, which are herded and fed in the ecologically clean region of the Kaluga and Voronezh regions.

During the year, the animals live in an environment close to natural, they eat meadow grasses on free range, after which they are transferred to feedlots. The manufacturer gives them a special multi-component cereal mixture based on wet corn for six months. As a result, high-quality marbled meat, from which juicy steaks are made, gets on the shelves. So that the taste of beef has time to fully reveal, before deliveries to stores, it undergoes a two-week wet maturation.

Factors affecting marbling

This term refers to the presence of intramuscular fat in meat. Evaluators look at the volume and distribution of fat fibers in the longissimus dorsi muscle in a section between ribs 12 and 13. The degree of marbling is one of the main criteria for determining the category of product quality. This indicator depends on the breed, genetic data of the animal, selection. Beef cattle (Wagyu, Aberdeen Angus, Shorthorn, etc.) and dairy breeds (Holstein, Jersey) have more adipose tissue in the muscles.

Marble meat will not work without proper nutrition. The longer cattle are fed high-calorie feed, the more likely it is to get the highest quality beef, but at the same time a significantly smaller amount of marble tenderloin will be produced (the ratio of lean meat to marble with the age of the animal changes in favor of the first). Feeding cows and steers large amounts of grains such as corn and barley will change the color of the zhivo from yellow to white. In addition, the chances of obtaining higher quality in accordance with accepted standards will increase.

Insufficient physical activity is a factor that also affects the cultivation of marbled meat. Bulls and cows that have grown up in cramped stalls have softer meat than animals that have been allowed to walk a lot. So, animals, limited in movement, easily accumulate fat inside the muscles, their tenderloin becomes soft. Free-range cattle eat a lot of fiber-rich grass (instead of grain) and have a lot of force on the muscles when walking, so the muscle tissue becomes dry.

The globally accepted technology for growing and feeding livestock to obtain marbled meat is feedlots, which are sites for fattening high-calorie feed for at least 4-5 months before slaughter. The initial growth time of the animal falls on free grazing. The breed of Kobe gobies is fed with milk until the age of six months, after which they are transferred to a pasture, where they grow with little or no human intervention in free grazing.

The grown cattle are transferred to individual rooms with soundproof walls and hung on the reins so that they cannot move, but also do not lie, because then the muscles will be in tension for uniform layering of tissue with fat. At this time, the bulls receive selected grain and high-quality beer (the latter is needed to improve their appetite). Such a diet enhances the deposition of fat. The average standard for grain feeding is 200-300 days. In order for fat to penetrate deep into, forming thin layers in the muscles, the bulls are periodically given vibration massage.

Types of marbled meat steaks

Beef steaks are an expensive dish, the meat for which is taken from the best parts of beef carcasses. Only a tenth of the whole cow is suitable for their preparation. Modern cooking distinguishes the following types of steaks, the names of which indicate the place of the carcass from which the meat was cut:

• club steak - cut off from the back at the site of the thick edge of the longest spinal muscle, has a small costal bone;

• ribeye steak - taken from the subscapular part of the animal's body, has a large amount of adipose tissue;

• teebone steak - meat on a T-shaped bone, cut on the border between the lumbar and dorsal parts near the thin edge of the longissimus dorsi muscle and the thin edge of the tenderloin, due to which it consists of two different types of fillets (New York bones and filet mignon) ;

• striploin steak - taken from the strip of the lumbar part, without bones;

• porterhouse steak - cut from the loin of a cow at the thick edge of the tenderloin;

• roundramb steak - tenderloin from the upper part of the hip area;

• sirloin steak - marbled meat, which is cut from the lower back in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe head of the tenderloin;

• skrit steak - a very tasty, expensive piece from the diaphragm of an animal;

• filet mignon - a transverse thin section of the central region of the loin tenderloin with the most tender meat;

• tornedos - small slices from the thin edge of the central part of the tenderloin, which are used to make medallions;

• Chateaubriand - the thick edge of the central part of the tenderloin, which is fried whole, is not much different from filet mignon, but is served not standing on a plate, but laid out in length.

How to cook meat

To fry the marble fillet on a grill or pan, use the tenderloin from the rib part, which is characterized by a high degree of fat content and juiciness. This type of dish in restaurants is valued more than others. Steamed beef is not recommended. When cooking a steak, it is better not to rush, otherwise the piece will remain raw inside. The optimal temperature for marbled beef according to the classic recipe is 160 degrees.

Narrated by Ivan Shishkin, 4 Mar 2013

1 14 3 121498

Marble meat is considered to be a reference product in terms of quality. Special beef cattle breeds and a carefully selected fattening regime give the perfect combination of muscle fibers and fat inclusions in the meat, which ensures the reference taste of the finished product. Ivan Shishkin, head of the Moscow restaurants Delicatessen and Tapa De Comida, believes that all this is nothing more than a beautiful marketing story.

Ivan Shishkin

About the juiciness and fat content of meat

I am not against marbled meat as a food product. Such meat is popular in the market, it is in demand, and it is eaten. Another thing is that the marbling of meat should by no means be the leading quality criterion.

Please note that today they order in restaurants. A grown man, a healthy boar, walks into a restaurant and orders a tenderloin - the most textureless, tender, most sluggish meat from a taste point of view. In my opinion, it is pointless to fry the tenderloin - this is cotton wool. However, men order Filet Mignon or Chateaubriand, which 15 years ago were considered dishes for fragile girls.

This is due to the marketing situation that has arisen. After the introduction of intensive animal husbandry technologies, it turned out that cows that grew up immobilized in cramped stalls (feedlot) give very soft meat, due to the fact that their muscles do not experience such stress as those of "free-roaming" cows. A lot of such soft meat appeared on the market, and the people who traded it managed to convince everyone that this is a premium product.

Marbled beef stall in Japan.

Japanese Wagyu bulls are massaged, fed with beer for appetite and given to listen to classical music.

To explain the higher price, they began to say that this meat is “marbled” and that it is more tender and juicy, which, of course, is not true - the fat content of the meat does not mean juiciness. Although there is some truth in this statement - intramuscular fat has a soft structure. And its melting point is lower, about two degrees, than that of skeletal fat. Intramuscular fat gives a certain softness to the finished product.

Where did marbled meat come from

By and large, the myth about the elitism of marbled meat arose by chance. The technology of "marbling" of meat appeared at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries in Japan. When the Japanese only brought cows to the islands (this happened in the middle of the first millennium BC), the animals developed completely independently, the breed did not interbreed with anyone, that is, it was a monoherd, genetically homogeneous, pure. Then cattle was used as a draft force, it was not grown for meat.

Raising cows for meat in Japan began in the middle of the 19th century. And there is very little space for this on the islands, so the animals were herded into these cramped stalls. And the cows began to get fat quickly. More precisely - not cows, but bulls - bulls are grown for meat. Although now there are several farms engaged in the production of exclusively cow meat.

The marbling of meat is a consequence of the natural property of the body to accumulate fat between muscle fibers. But this property is manifested only in captivity. Free-range animals almost never accumulate fat, which means that wild animals will never produce marble meat because they are constantly on the move, get their own food and do not get an excess amount of calories.

In order to obtain marbled meat, the first step was to immobilize the animals, put them in a stall and switch from a natural grassy diet to a diet containing a large amount of carbohydrates, namely a cereal diet. Such a diet is unnatural for a cow - its gastrointestinal tract is adapted to repeated grinding, fermentation and re-fermentation of precisely coarse cellulose feed. And there is much less cellulose in the grain than in grass, so fermentation occurs in a completely wrong way - flatulence occurs in animals.

Chianina bulls are the largest in the world in terms of size and weight.

Florentine steak is often ordered for a large company.

When the Japanese learned how to make marbled meat, this knowledge remained within their culture for a long time. The rest of the world was content with cows that roamed freely and drove long distances.

Today, meat growing technologies have led to the fact that it is possible to obtain not only marbled beef, but also lamb, and pork, and even horse meat. This is rather strange and rather curious. In general, I think that marbled ducks will appear soon.

Marbling of meat is not a quality criterion

In Italy, they grow the famous breed of tall bulls - Chianina. These are the largest bulls on the planet in terms of size and weight. The average three-year-old bull weighs one and a half tons, its height at the withers is up to two meters. Previously, they were used to plow and pull carts with cargo. This breed is generally not prone to marbling. But, nevertheless, the most famous Italian specialty - the Fiorentina steak - is prepared from a huge cut of the lumbar part of the chianina. It is impossible to eat such a steak alone - this is a romantic dinner for two, or even for a whole company. I once witnessed how a Florentine steak was successfully divided among eight adult men who fell away from it full.

So, this steak - a cult meat specialty - does not contain marbling at all. That is, it turns out that the quality criteria are made up of other components:

- the ratio of meat and fat in the carcass;
- aging, cold maturation;
- of course, the breed. Different breeds have different sizes of muscle fibers. The fibers can be long or short, thin or thick - the taste of the meat depends on this and soft meat is obtained from this, and not because of the fatty streaks.

Some breeds are more prone to the accumulation of intramuscular fat, others are less. The well-known Angus are prone to marbling. But the same angus gives great taste and fantastic quality meat if it lives in a free-range environment. His carcass contains the most magnificent skeletal fat, so yellowish, in contrast to the bright white intramuscular. This fat accumulates carotene from plants. That is, there is already some benefit in this. But this fat is more refractory.

A bull that was kept on a grain diet - fat folds are clearly visible.

The chef of the BLT Steak restaurant (Miami) demonstrates a piece of meat from which a premium steak will be made.

If the animal walked a lot, overcame long distances, then, of course, its meat will be denser. But such meat can be cooked in a completely different way. You need to put the steak on the grill, turn it over, cut off the fried parts from it - this can take several hours.

This is how it is customary to cook the meat of gobies from Latin America, which do not just walk, but they are specially driven, like Sidorov's goats, they are running. They have a very high calorie diet. In season, they eat good food in open meadows, accumulate protein mass well, and their diet is rich in legumes enriched with nitrogen. Their meat tastes great.

Be a man - eat meat!

In my opinion, marbled meat is really a premium product. It is soft, expensive and makes life easier for everyone: manufacturers, sellers, chefs, and buyers.

It is beneficial for the producer to grow cows in cramped stalls - it is much more expensive to keep them on free pasture. And the resulting product is sold more expensive than the meat of cows grazed in the wild. Sellers are happy too. From a business standpoint, this is brilliant. From the point of view of humanity and attitude to nature - a complete disgrace.

Now chicken eggs are very popular, which were not kept in poultry houses, but walked freely. These eggs are really tastier, and people buy them with pleasure. But keeping free range chickens is cheaper than cows. With poultry, it is possible to get away from intensive animal husbandry, this will not happen with cattle in the near future.

Now it is pointless for a chef to try to convince a client who already has a strong stereotype that marbled meat is the best product. It is even more convenient for the cook - now it is enough just to throw a piece of meat on a hot grill, heat it on both sides, no matter how many times it is turned over, flavored and given away.

For the consumer, everything is also very easy - he gets a deliberately soft piece of meat, he eats it without encountering any resistance: there is no need to chew - it melts in your mouth. And we are no longer talking about where the beef taste is, where it all comes from, what it is all for.

Primary is not softness, not fat content and not texture, but taste! But it is not in soft meat - it is, in fact, lost. Wanting to make the job easier with a knife, fork and teeth, we have lost the real taste of meat.

“Growing marbled beef is easier than non-marbled beef. Cows stand in their stall, they eat high-calorie food, they don’t need a place to graze, they don’t need anything.”

Although in our time, when everyone's teeth are in order, dental care has become available, it would seem, let's make normal meat! We will chew it and enjoy it, feel the juice that penetrates into the mouth with every chewing movement and enjoy. But no - everyone wants to knead it with their teeth and swallow it without chewing.

But the premium product, which is marbled meat, is a delicacy that cannot be eaten every day. Everyday food should be simple and really tasty. But we continue to live with the imposed stereotype that marbled meat is tastier.

Marble meat production is easy!

In fact, as strange as it may seem, raising marbled beef is easier than non-marbled beef. Cows stand in their stall, they eat high-calorie food, they don't need a place to graze, they don't need anything. Take out manure, bring food - and that's it. It's like a chicken coop, they're locked in their own dung.

Japanese manufacturers say that they even turn on music to make the cows calmer, and they are also massaged. So the tradition of massaging cows did not come from the fact that they wanted to make the meat more tender and softer. After all, massaging a cow is nonsense! A boxer can beat her and she won't feel a thing. She has thick skin and a high pain threshold. But in fact, they massage cows from crowding. Cows in narrow stalls are simply immobilized, massage creates the illusion of movement.

This immediately raises the question of a double standard. There are organizations all over the world that are trying to ban something - foie gras, for example. But growing poultry on foie gras is a common family farming business in many countries of the world, of course, most of all in France. The question is, how is forced feeding of geese different from the forced transfer of an animal to high-calorie food?

Premium product of the brand Iberico.

Florentine steak is the most famous Italian speciality.

Moreover, a cow should not be fed through a tube. Her digestion is so arranged that she cannot fill her stomach to the throat. She has a traffic of ruminant mass - both up and down, she periodically burps part of the intestine and chews it again, then this mass is fermented. It is impossible to force a cow to eat, but it is possible to stimulate the appetite, say, pour beer into her food so that she insists, incubates, and accumulates excess fat.

Wet aging is another myth

In the whole history of "marbling" of meat there is a share of slyness. I will say more - with the proper technology for cooking a steak, in blind testing, meat of the “select” category in the American gradation system does not differ from meat in the non-marble category at all. I think the average consumer won't notice a difference at all if it's a good aged meat that's already matured with a rim of skeletal fat and has been refrigerated.

Fat as such has no taste, it is only a carrier of taste. The taste of beef, which is in the meat and without marbling.

How to cook the meat of a free range cow

If we talk about cooking a steak, you need to remember: the slower you go, the further you will be. This rule applies to any process related to food preparation.

5% of dishes benefit from being cooked quickly, but for the vast majority, slow cooking is important, and steak is a good example. It is enough to throw a piece of marbled meat into a frying pan heated to 220-250 ° C and turn it over a couple of times. It seems to be ready outside and warmed up - it's time to serve.

The meat of an Angus goby that has gained marbling.

Free range angus steak - no intramuscular fat.

Not at all like a steak cooked on a slow grill, at a temperature of about 160 ° C. If you cook it on a slow grill, turn it over often, heat it evenly from all sides, so that not only a crust forms, but a piece is still cooked inside. You can not allow muscle fibers to shock, shrink and thereby squeeze out all the moisture. If there is a rim of fat, it must be left for the duration of frying - this is a strictly necessary condition for the taste to concentrate. There is no desire to eat fatty meat - this crust can be cut off, but only after the meat is fully cooked. Then you will get quality, taste and texture that are really comparable to marble meat.

Why Marbled Meat Doesn't Bring Happiness

I guarantee: free-range steers will taste more like beef. This is exactly what I look for in meat. I am looking not just for a protein product that is easy to put in my mouth and chew, but I am looking for a taste. I look for the taste of beef in beef, the taste of pork in pork. Many people say that pork has no taste, but this is not true: pork has its own pronounced taste, which you like or not, just like lamb, goat meat. The taste of any meat depends on a gentle post-processing process.
There is no happiness from this marble meat. It is important that the meat is clean, well-fed, correctly slaughtered, properly aged and cooked according to the rules.