Comments on: Is Kobe Beef A Big Scam?

By: Franck Dernoncourt

Franck Dernoncourt — Sat, 08 Mar 2014 17:21:00 +0000

FYI http://www.forbes.com/sites/larryolmsted/2012/09/28/kobe-beef-is-back-new-rules-allow-some-japanese-beef-in-u-s/

By: Meles meles

Meles meles — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 12:01:00 +0000

“I think champagne is kind of a bad example because it’s become so widespread and Americans who aren’t really big into wine often don’t really associate it with the Champagne region of France, to them it’s just a type of wine”

That doesn’t make it a bad example, it’s just an illustration of parochialism.

By: Franklin

Franklin — Wed, 27 Jun 2012 07:40:00 +0000

A lot of stuff with a long Japanese pedigree is meaningless anyway. In Japan, that kind of lineage is important, but it is almost always 100% utterly meaningless. I know this very well because I’m actually working in the Japanese food industry (peripherally, doing some sales), and I can tell you that their whole system is based around, “Oh, this item was made in this special region, so it’s somehow better!” It’s not. It’s all the same.

Kobe beef is probably just another one of those things. Ooh, beef from Kobe! From special cows! It’s all regulated! Well, yeah. EVERYTHING in Japan is strictly regulated by arbitrary, meaningless rules. And? Why should I pay more money for something I can get at my kids’ school? Arbitrary traditions and pointless red tape.

Note that in Japan, Kobe beef HAS to come from Kobe. That right there tells you that the word “Kobe beef” in itself is meaningless. Why can’t Kobe beef come from those same cows if they were raised, say, in the mountains of Shikoku? Guess what – Shikoku has some GREAT beef produced in the mountains.

Well, the reason is that Kobe beef is just like any other beef. It just has a pointless pedigree built up around it. You couldn’t have those same cows, raised the same way, fed the same feed from Shikoku and still call it Kobe because it’s just not the same!!!!

That’s Japan. I like how the whole world bought the lie, though. “Oh, Kobe beef is special.” Nope, sorry. Here’s a protip: when a Japanese person says that this is the best, most special version of an item in Japan, they’re making it up. Someone, somewhere, centuries ago wrote that “Shikoku has the best X,” or “Kobe has the best Y,” and the Japanese just kept repeating it. And that’s fine for Japan, but it becomes hilarious when you realize that the WHOLE WORLD fell for it.

By: Shatterofdreams

Shatterofdreams — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 18:10:00 +0000

the thing is that “wagyu” beef from japan or anywhere else taste like butter and once you have it you can totally tell the difference between it and what america is calling kobe beef. With sparkling wine it actually taste like champagne from france. I understand you can’t call it kobe beef that is misleading what I’m upset about is that it still doesn’t even taste as good. Kobe beef doesn’t even taste like beef anymore people if you guys were wondering. It taste like beef bone marrow.

By: grotesk_faery

grotesk_faery — Mon, 28 May 2012 23:05:00 +0000

I pretty much agree with this, though I think champagne is kind of a bad example because it’s become so widespread and Americans who aren’t really big into wine often don’t really associate it with the Champagne region of France, to them it’s just a type of wine, whereas Kobe beef is still really strongly associated with that area, and I think people DO expect to be fed beef from Japan (or at least Japanese cattle) if it’s advertised as such, while they might not expect champagne to be from Champagne. I think even calling the beef wagyu could also be misleading in a lot of cases, because wagyu technically comes from only a few types of cow (all Japanese), and I’d be willing to bet that most of the beef that’s advertised in America as Kobe or wagyu isn’t even from Japanese breeds, it’s probably just really fatty beef from whatever cows were available. I do think that there needs to be a bit more regulation of the definitions of foods that are specifically from one place, especially those named for the place. I think it would probably be hard to enforce with something like champagne, since it’s become such common practice here to call almost any sparkling wine champagne, but with something like Kobe/wagyu beef, it might be a little easier since it’s still sort of a new thing here and it’s still strongly associated with Japan because restaurants that serve it tend to sort of beat you over the head with the fact that it’s Japanese because it makes it seem fancier.

By: Albi

Albi — Sat, 19 May 2012 21:03:00 +0000

This product reminds me of the Iberian ham we have in Spain, which is made from Iberian pigs and can reach prices of 90€~200€ per kilo easily, and I can understand how people don’t like it when they are charged for something that isn’t the genuine thing.
I had a friend who swore he had tried it in Italy (probably Prosciutto) and that he didn’t like it…changed his opinion when I gave him the genuine stuff and was a bit ticked off that he had been duped.
I have also had incidents when friends tell me to cook them something Spanish and become all shocked when they find out it isn’t spicy at all. I even had someone insist that I wasn’t doing it right and that Paella is meant to BE spicy! I almost slapped him across the face for that one ¬_¬