ottawa foodies

Today's Globe and Mail had an article that I thought was reasonably good on Kobe Beef. Its written by Splendido's David Lee. A few of the comments noted that he got a few facts wrong but I still enjoyed the article.

The article can be found:

www.theglobeandmail.com

Anyway, the article notes that Pusateri's in Toronto now carries Kobe beef. Parenthetically I should note that I always refer to the store as Pukateri's just to annoy my bourgeois friends and to bond with my working class roots and to be childish, but at the same time I will admit they have some stuff there I can't get anywhere else..... Anyway, Lee stated that prior to Pusateri's getting it, he had to import it. My guess is that means Kobe beef cannot be obtained in Ottawa but I am wondering if others know differently.

I have never eaten Kobe beef in a restaurant because when its been offered the price was prohibited. For those who have had it, is it worth the price?

Cheers

I read an article in the Citizen about Wagyu awhile back, and they mentioned Saslove's (Saslove's Meat Market) carries it (checking the listing here confirms this). They're right in the market on Byward.

www.saslovesmeat.com/

I believe Saslove's, just to be clear was carrying Canadian grown Kobe beef. Not sure if the pure evangelist would believe this is/can be as good as the Japanese imports...

Had a Kobe beef burger a couple of weeks ago. I'd have to have had a regular beef burger from the same restaurant to really be able to judge the differences because the restaurant's grind was much coarser then a regular hamburger.

It was really good though.

My husband and I both think it's worth the hefty price tag for kobe beef. We've had it in restaurants in Ottawa, NYC, Chicago, HK, and yes - Japan. Maybe being in Japan made us bias - but the kobe beef in Japan was truly amazingly mouth watering delicious - better than other kobe beef we've had in other countries. Melts in your mouth goodness. Juicy, buttery, sweet, flavourful and luxurious. We could literally cut it with a fork!! It's that tender! If only we didn't have to break the bank every time we eat it... :)

-M.

Just to make it clear, "Kobe" beef can not be sold in Canada. Kobe beef refers to cattle from the Waygu region of Japan which, according to Japanese trade laws is not allowed to be exported. What is sold here is beef that was bred with Waygu cattle, a blend of Angus, which is our top beef in Canada, and Waygu from Japan. A restaurant that stats that it sells Kobe beef is misleading its customers. What it is selling is American or Canadian Kobe beef (Waygu/Angus blend) which is entirely different that Waygu "Kobe" beef. Waygu is much fattier and has much more marbling than our version which is much leaner due to its diet and its lifestyle (e.g. not massaged).

Not to pick a fight or anything (cause I NEVER DO THAT).. but I'm pretty sure you can get Kobe Beef outside of Japan. I do not know if there are laws or not preventing the export of cattle from Japan (which seems pretty unenforceable anyways, because you could quite easily export a fertizled Waygu egg for implantation into another breed ) but I am pretty close to 100% sure that they can export Kobe Beef (as in dead and butchered cattle). Should I put up my dukes? ;-)

In the spirit of good ole Cdn dialecticalism (and because no lawyer or import expert has yet chimed in), perhaps the truth lies somewhere between Pete's pugilistic-inspired opinions and Snoopy's position?

A Japanese friend tells me she's unaware of any Japanese laws prohibiting the export of said beef. She (not a lawyer but semi-informed due to her work) thinks that *if* there are any legalities impeding the import of Japanese beef, they're more likely *import* laws, i.e., Cdn in origin and perhaps premised on flimsy / protectionist ideas that that said beef must meet our "strict" laws around BSE testing & so forth (an irony, for sure, given that Japanese apparently test every single cow vs. cdn "standards" that test what ... 1/100 or so?).

On the other hand, echoing Snoopy's scepticism, i would look twice at any restaurant's claim that they're serving the real thing. Witnessing what's happened with sushi in a city 1300 km from the nearest ocean (e.g., the whole AYCE phenom) suggests the possibility of other possibilities. But, i'm vegetarian, so my stake (not to mention authority) in this debate is itself dubious. ;)

Some googling shows no indication at all that there is an export limitation on Kobe Beef from Japan. Perhaps it may be the case that the live cattle are not allowed to be exported (anymore, because clearly they have been) so as not to create competition abroad.

After doing some more research, I find myself in the position of having to retract my statements. Between 2001 and 2006, Japanese beef imports were not allowed into the US because of cases of BSE. That restriction has been lifted as of late 2005. Also, I did not find any evidence of import control in Canada =)

I went to Sasloves a few weeks back and they had a toploin CDN Kobe beef roast for $34 (it was a small roast). I asked them to cut into 2 steaks for me and they did. I ended up cutting those in half and got 4 large steaks out of the whole deal.

I am guessing toploin is probably not the best cut to make steaks with. Overall, I would say it was a very good steak and given that the price was not outrageous I would do it again.

cheers