The Wagyu Legend
A Japanese Tradition
The legend of producing premium quality Wagyu (Kobe) is not new but it is certainly impressive. The Japanese Wagyu were initially developed 500 years ago as work animals. It was only relatively recently that they were discovered to have extraordinary meat qualities, resulting in this cattle breed becoming one of the most coveted in the world. Genetically different from the traditional American breeds, Wagyu are world renowned for their marbling abilities resulting in taste and tenderness far surpassing the traditional American experience.
The USDA scale for meat quality has 3 primary levels (5 including sub levels): Select, Choice and Prime. Contrastingly, the Japanese Grading system has 12 levels, 7 above the USDA Prime. Today roughly 3% of the traditional US cattle grade as Prime. Most US domestic fullblood Wagyu cattle normally grade at the Japanese level of BMS 8-10.