Clotted Cream - A Type of Cream that Originated in the UK

I just read a post that mentioned clotted cream and I got curious about this English food.

Scones with clotted cream
Thanks to eatsmarter.de

Clotted cream is a thick cream with a yellow color and a sweet, rich nutty flavor. It is made from cow's milk with all the fats included. It is heated in high temperature until small clumps rise to the surface.

This method of cooking was done mainly to store the milk for long periods of time as there were no refrigerators at that time. This was done by diary farmers to minimize the amount discarded from the milk.

But why is clotted cream illegal in the US?

Clotted cream is illegal in the US simply because it is not pasteurized which means it did not undergo a strict preparation process to kill the bacteria found in the milk.

Pasteurization is the process of removing harmful bacteria from food to make the food safe to eat.  

This is what I bring home every time I go to Hongkong - Peking Duck

This is how a typical restaurant that sells Peking duck looks like. Roasted ducks are displayed hanging by a display window for customers to see. They are very irresistible. The Chinese people love to eat Peking duck. And, some Filipinos like me and members of my family love to eat Peking Duck, too. We like the roast duck dipped in plum sauce.

 This one whole Peking duck does not look as fresh as when I bought it at the restaurant because I bought it the day before our departure. When I opened it at home, this was how it looked like - dry and wrinkled because it stayed overnight in the freezer. However, it still tasted great after I placed it in the microwave oven. 

This is what I ordered at the restaurant where we ate in Mongkok and where I ordered one whole duck to be brought home. The lady packed the duck very well when she learned that I was bringing it home to the Philippines. I bought the one whole duck for $145 Hongkong dollars.

The restaurant located at the heart of Mongkok was small but it was clean and not noisy. The lady owner was courteous and very pleasant to us. I want to go back to that restaurant again when I go back to Hongkong in the near future.

What is Wagyu Beef?

Wagyu has become very popular in recent years among meat lovers, cattle breeders and restaurant owners. What exactly is wagyu?

I hear people talk about wagyu beef but I'm not sure if the information they're giving me is correct or not. To get the correct information, I usually make a research on my own and here is what I found out in this case, particularly about wagyu beef. 

Wagyu simply means Japanese cow. It is a breed of cattle that is raised in many parts of Japan and is known for its higher omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids content than ordinary beef. 

4 Types of wagyu:

Japanese black cow 

The Japanese black cow accounts for 90% of the total number of cattle currently raised in Japan. Other breeds include: Okayama, Tottori, Tajima and Shimane.

The Japanese brown cow 

This is also called Japanese red and include the breeds Komamoto and Kuchi.

The Japanese polled cattle

The Japanese polled is a type of cattle that is now critically endangered. At the start of the twentieth century, all wagyu cattle had foreign influence through cross-breeding and the Japanese polled has a strong influence from the Scottish angus cattle. 

The Japanese shorthorn

This breed accounts for less that 1% of the total number of cows raised. This type of wagyu cattle derived its influence from the shorthorn cattle with some influence from the Ayrshire and Devon cattle breeds. 

When wagyu was introduced to the US, it was cross bred with Angus cows and the result became what they call the American Style Kobe Beef. Wagyu raisers  would feed their cows with wheat straw, corn, alfalfa and barley to give the Japanese cows the kind of diet that they would get in Japan.

Wagyu was introduced in Canada only very recently in 1991 at bout the same time that the Canadian Wagyu Association was formed. There are only two Canadian provinces where Japanese cows are raised - the provinces of Prince Edward Island and Alberta 

Outside Japan, the largest breeders of wagyu are those who belong to the Australian Wagyu Association. They raise pure-bred and cross-bred wagyu which they supply to large wagyu consuming countries including the US, UK, France, Germany, Denmark, Singapore, HK, China and Taiwan. The cows are fed with grass on the last 300 to 500 days of fattening. The cows raised in this Down Under region of Margaret River is also fed with feeds mixed with red wine probably to enhance the flavor of the meat and to fully enjoy the health benefits of wine.