Are you for veal?: A male "wagyu" calf stands with its mother at Meadows Farm in Cazenovia, New York, on June 28. AP PHOTO'Wagyu' tag may be lacking but meat's taste savored by high-end diners willing to ante upCAZENOVIA, New York — Half a world away from the secretive farms that produce Japan's legendary Kobe beef, Jerry Wilson raises the American version of the meat that will become $50 steaks and $13 burgers.
The chocolatey brown cattle at Wilson's Meadows Farm don't technically produce Kobe beef — that term is reserved for the Japanese superhigh-end cut famous for its succulent taste and eye-popping prices. Wilson calls his meat American Style Kobe Beef. Other ranchers use similar names such as Kobe-style beef or "wagyu" beef, a reference to the breed of cattle.
Whatever the name, domestic production of the pricey product has grown from practically nothing a dozen years ago to a flourishing boutique niche, with recent growth fueled in part by a ban on Japanese beef because of reports of foot-and-mouth disease.
While American ranchers might not be able to match the mystique of Japanese Kobe and much of the domestic product is cross-bred, they say their product compares with the legendary luscious stuff.
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