Love Kobe Beef? Well, You’ve Probably Never Had It [REPORT]

We’re not kidding. According to an article that debuted earlier this week from Forbes, its impossible to have ordered, bought or consumed authentic Kobe beef in the United States. Why don’t you let that sink in a bit.

That’s right. No matter how much you have spent or who your legitimate source was – you’ve been duped. swindled. psyched. bamboozled. hoodwinked. and a lot of other synonyms that could be generated by my prevailing wit, definitely not google and thesaurus searches.

We can all stand to learn a bit more about what true Kobe Beef is and isn’t. It IS produced by some of the world’s strictest legal standards and requires a pure lineage of Tajima-gyu breed cattle. It ISN’T massaged for hours by dedicated sous-chefs as part of the standard preparation of five-diamond restaurants. It IS beef that is born and raised for its entire life in the Hyogo prefecture and always a bull or virgin cow. It ISN’T an argument between the active LA Lakers legend and the most emotional basketball player of all time Pau Gasol.

The imitation beef you have been consumed probably has come from the Midwest, Great Plains, South America or Australia. Here’s the proof:

“It is now illegal to import (or even hand carry for personal consumption) any Japanese beef. Before 2010 you could import only boneless fresh Japanese beef, but none was real Kobe. Under Japanese law, Kobe beef can only came from Hyogo prefecture (of which Kobe is the capital city), where no slaughterhouses were approved for export by the USDA. According to its own trade group, the Kobe Beef Marketing & Distribution Promotion Association in Japan, where Kobe Beef is a registered trademark, Macao is the only place it is exported to – and only since last year. If you had real Kobe beef in this country in recent years, someone probably smuggled it in their luggage.”

Now you know.

(THX Forbes, Photo Credit to Wikipedia)