Gold Medalist Of Japan's Wagyu Beef Olympics To Arrive In U.S.

You're telling us there is a six-day Wagyu beef Olympics held in Japan, and we didn't attend? That's a gross oversight on our part. We could have tasted some of the most prized beef in the entire world and watched as judges crowned the creme de la cow: the world's tastiest version of wagyu, a term for the beef from four species of cows genetically bred for intense marbling and high levels of deliciousness.

But we still have a (narrow) shot at tasting that meat, as the winner of the competition—Sanuki, or "olive wagyu"—will arrive stateside soon. Tasting Table reports online meat retail website Crowd Cow will offer a small amount of the beef to existing customers on April 16; any quantities not sold will be opened up to orders the following day.

What makes this wagyu so sought-after? The cows are fed a diet of olives, specifically the olives left over from olive-oil pressing, which is packed with oleic acid and renders their beef more umami-intense than traditional wagyu. Only a few of these cattle are slaughtered each month, leading Crowd Cow to call Sanuki wagyu "the rarest steak on the planet." When a 5-ounce Sanuki filet appeared on the menu at Seattle's Metropolitan Grill last year, it sold for $135.

We hadn't exactly budgeted that into our food plan for the month, so if anyone wants to invite us over for a Wagyu Wednesday dinner party, we'll clear our schedules.