Try a little tenderness: Charting the rise of Scottish Wagyu beef
Far from the verdant farms of Japan’s Kobe region, Highland Wagyu are rearing their own world-beating beef on the Falkirk-Perthshire border.
In Japan, ‘Wagyu’ is synonymous with great meat — quite literally. In the country’s native tongue, ’Wa’ translates as ‘Japanese’ and ‘Gyu’ as ‘beef’. And prime cuts of their rarefied meat, with its uniquely tender texture and rich, buttery flavour, are sought after the world over. Exports are high, quality is higher and the Japanese people take this majestically marbled, beefy business very, very seriously.
When calves are born on the slopes of Japan’s northern prefectures, they are given names rather than numbers. They get birth certificates, thermal jackets and five-star treatment from the moment their cloven hooves hit the ground. They are massaged daily with rice wine to accentuate marbling, given ice cold beer to keep them stress-free and played symphonies of calming classical music. It’s a coddled life for the cattle, but they’re worth the investment: the meat can sell for up to $400 per kilo.
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