Marbling and Sashi
What is marbling ?
As meat consumers we are used to considering "quality" a cut of meat with little, if any, amount of external fat and a nice uniform red color. However, we often do not consider that some types of fat can be healthy or even enhance some qualities of a cut and make it much more valuable and expensive.
We are talking about some types of meat which are made up of a dense network of small veins of fat which are found within the muscular tissue of the bovine and can be seen more precisely among the red fibers of the raw meat, especially in very high quality cuts. quality.
This distribution creates typical streaks that run along the red part of the meat and are commonly referred to as marbling. Based on the quantity of fat and its distribution (marbling), the meat is classified into different stages of marbling.
The higher the fat percentage, the higher the quality of the meat. During cooking, this good fat melts and makes the meat extremely soft, giving it a unique, full-bodied and very particular flavour, increasingly appreciated by consumers all over the world.
Remember that marbling is also a very important indicator of the animal's health. In fact, only cattle that are raised in perfect environmental conditions and that follow a natural, healthy diet with the right amount of all nutritional components are able to produce meat with a good degree of marbling and fat distribution. .
Sashi , Sashi Beef or Finnish Sashi ?
Did you also turn up your nose the first time you heard the word Sashi or Sashi Beef alongside the Finnish word or the name of other breeds? You are not alone!
This is because "sashi" is an oriental word that is part of Japanese terminology which literally means "marbling", that is, the generally very uniform distribution of a large quantity of intramuscular fat that characterizes the cuts of meat that are called that. It's not a particular race.
In conclusion, the term sashi can therefore also be used to refer to cuts of beef that come from Germany or France.
So why is it used to indicate Finnish breed steers?
This terminology is often used to indicate the selection of Finnish Freygaard cattle breeds, mainly Ayrshire and Friesian, because it is precisely the breeding method used that makes them fall into the category of the most prized meat: sashi. The cattle tend to live free to graze in the lands of this territory of Celtic origin, rich in meadows and fragrant herbs, lakes and endless valleys.
The animals live free throughout the warm period, feeding on fresh grass and Zea mays. In the winter seasons, however, they are raised indoors and fed hay. It is precisely to face the harsh temperatures of Finnish winters that the meat of these cattle is enriched with a good percentage of intramuscular fat which then makes it much softer and more tender to our palate.
The Finnish breed is also often called the "European Wagyu", since Finnish cow meat is very similar to the marbling of its Japanese cousin: therefore very similar to Kobe meat, but much less expensive.
For these reasons, in recent years the word sashi (marbling) has begun to be associated with certain cuts of meat to indicate very valuable and expensive pieces, including the meat of Finnish breed cattle.
