Matsusaka wagyu beef

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Matsusaka or Matsuzaka beef is a form of wagyu beef which is produced in Matsusaka, Japan, in Mie Prefecture. This beef is famous for its tender texture, complex flavor, and beautifully marbled appearance, and it typically commands very high prices when it is offered for sale. Some people feel that Matsusaka beef is of a much higher quality than Kobe beef, another famous type of Japanese beef; Matsusaka beef certainly tends to have a more strongly developed flavor.

The term “wagyu” is used generically to describe several breeds of cattle raised in Japan. Matsusaka beef comes from Japanese Blacks, and by tradition, only heifers are raised in the area, and they are never bred, because this is said to influence the flavor of the beef. The cows are allowed to live until they are three years old, creating a much more distinctive, beefy meat; by contrast, most cattle in other regions of the world are slaughtered at around 18 months of age, or sometimes at two years old.