Welcome Back, Kobe
Kobe beef is now commonplace at high-end restaurants. Well, Kobe-style beef at any rate. The famously well-marbled meat that Americans have eaten for the last four years has come not from the small town of Kobe, Japan, but from domestic farms. The United States government banned imports of the real deal when mad cow turned up in the Japanese stock. The Japanese then turned away our meat for the same reason. The governments might have been sniping at each other, but it gave American ranchers a chance to enter the game.
As of this week, we can have each other’s beef, not have a beef with each other. The embargoes have been lifted, and consumers will be able to buy authentic Kobe beef. But this article on MS-NBC asks whether anyone will care. American farmers have made tremendous strides with their Kobe-style beef, which is cheaper than imported Japanese Kobe and similar in taste. Probably connoisseurs—and snobs—will insist on the authentic meat, but it’s likely that most diners will choose the cheaper option.
Has Japan lost its monopoly on high-end beef?
