A breed of exotic Japanese cows - renowned for producing the world's most expensive and juiciest sirloins – will soon be a sight in the Lake District countryside.
Cumbrian hotelier and farmer Jonathan Denby, will embark on a pioneering new project on Tuesday October 9 to become the first farm in England to rear its own herd of pure-bred Wagyu cattle to provide luxury steaks for visitors at his three Lake District hotels.
Wagyu or Kobe-style beef is famed for being the "Caviar of the meat world" and the cattle are the most pampered in the world being fed on the national drink Sake to ensure they produce a tender, succulent meat which can also help those on low cholesterol diets.
Following the Japanese tradition, the herd will be fed with Lake District real ale from the Hawkshead Brewery in Staveley, which is run by former BBC presenter Alex Brodie, and produces award-winning pints of Hawkshead Bitter and Lakeland Gold. The cattle will also be massaged in a technique used to relax them and improve the tenderness of the meat.
Because Japan does not allow the export of the animals, the majority of places in the UK offering Wagyu import the meat. Mr Denby's approach will be unique as he bids to rear his own herd on a farm among the hills of the Lake District. Selfridges charge £85 per Wagyu sandwich, and it can cost up to £500 a kilogramme or between £5,000-10,000 per animal - the record being £125,000.
Actual pure-bred Wagyu in the UK is also extremely rare and Mr Denby is hoping the cattle establish themselves on his Lindisfarm based at High Lowscales near Millom.
The farm already produces a range of rarebreed and free range pedigree livestock to supply his hotel kitchens including off-spring from Beatrix Potter's original Herdwick Sheep, as well Saddleback Pigs and French Maran hens.
Mr Denby, whose business interests include Cumbria's twin enterprises of farming and tourism – will use his own stock of pure-bed Wagyu to supply steaks for his hotels which include the Newby Bridge Hotel, the Damson Dene at Crosthwaite, and the Riverside in Kendal.
To achieve the ambition, he has sourced and purchased eight special Wagyu embryos from Japan, and overseen by a team of specialist vets, eight of his existing Galloway cattle will act as surrogate mothers for the embryos until they are born as pure-bred Wagyu in nine months time.
Mr Denby said: "We will become the first farm in England to breed pure-bred Wagyu and the first hotel in the UK where guests can order a delicious steak of Wagyu beef which has been locally-sourced and grown on our own farm - rather than being imported or bought from a supplier hundreds of miles away."
"Customer are increasingly conscious of food miles and want locally-sourced produce – even Japanese Wagyu steaks. Our hotels pride themselves on offering rare-breed speciality meats on the menu so we expect these succulent steaks to be extremely popular."
The enterprise, which is costing over £6,000, also involves a specialist firm Paragon Veterinary Group based at Hexham in Northumberland and local vets from Browne and McKinney in Broughton-in-Furness. The embryos will be implanted at 10.30am on Tuesday October 9.
The embryo supplier in Japan has named each of the embryos but only one is recognisable to Mr Denby - Yoko Ono. Depending on the sex of the cattle reared, there are plans to follow suit and name them after The Beatles and their wives!
