BEEF AND CATTLE

The history of beef is, to some extent, the history of human civilization. Beef – also known as Bos domesticus – takes us back to the dawn of human evolution and the consumption of this particular meat has been intertwined with the history of mankind around the world. In prehistoric times, our ancestors were known to have hunted aurochs, a type of wild – and rather ferocious – cattle that were also the ancestor to modern livestock. Now extinct, auroch bulls are said to have reached a height of 1.8 metres (6 feet), while cows were considerably smaller, reaching only 1.5 metres (5 feet) in height. Cave paintings from several regions in Western Europe depicting detailed hunting scenes testify to the importance of the aurochs to prehistoric Homo sapiens, as the meat from these animals represented a large amount of the food rations within hunter-gatherer tribes.

Indeed, it seems virtually impossible to discuss the global history of beef without first talking about cows. This animal has had such an impact on human societies and cultures over millennia, that its ultimate transformation into beef seems hardly a point of departure. The domestication of cattle was not just a matter of food; it also had an impact on human evolution. Many archaeological and anthropological perspectives have emphasized different aspects of how cows transformed human existence. Domestication as such occurred in human organizations 12,000 years ago and primarily concerned small animals such as goats, sheep and pigs. Evidence of the domestication of cattle, however, is present from 8000 BC onwards. The Fertile Crescent – encompassing ancient Mesopotamia and now identified with a large area of the Middle East – has often been credited as the place of origin for cattle domestication. Nonetheless, the act in itself, and the consequent consumption of beef that derived from it, has been documented throughout history in a myriad of civilizations. And as far as hunter-gatherer communities were concerned, the domestication of cattle changed things drastically and permanently. Once cows were domesticated, and agriculture flourished as a result, the way of the hunter-gatherer ceased to be. For the most part, humans abandoned their nomadic existence and began to live in organized tribes. Cattle were raised for their meat; this was the beginning of what I like to refer to as ‘beef’ and all that the definition entails.

However, and in spite of the fact that signs of cattle domestication are present independently in the prehistoric histories of several countries around the world, the exact reasons that spurred early humans to approach the vicious wild aurochs are unknown. Indeed, humans are known to have dealt with cattle across the globe, developing their ideas on domestication in completely separate circumstances; the presence and consumption of cattle in prehistory has been documented from the southeastern Sahara in Africa to the Indus Valley (an area now part of modern Pakistan). And yet, in archaeological terms, the reasons behind early attempts at domesticating wild cattle for food, while our ancestors had already ample access to domesticated goats and sheep, are still open to debate.

A likely explanation that has been widely developed in the last two centuries by archaeologists and anthropologists alike seems to have a spiritual foundation at its heart. The attraction that the prehistoric cattle exercised on our early ancestors clearly went beyond their perspective potential as food. In 1896, anthropologist Eduard Hahn already presupposed that, as far as the human relationship with first wild and later domesticated cattle was concerned, the connection was reliant on the symbol of the moon, already an emblem of fertility in 7000 BC. Hahn contended that the distinctively curved shape of the cattle’s horn was reminiscent of the moon’s nascent crescent, inspiring early humans to associate with the animals on a more permanent basis. In the Cambridge World History of Food (2001), Kenneth Kiple and Kriemhild Coneè Ornelas also contend that the wild aurochs were specifically domesticated with religious purposes in mind, as their milk (and later meat) was perceived to be a ‘ritual gift from the goddess’. Indeed, the ritualistic and spiritual value of cows remained strong for centuries, if not millennia, as examples of sacred cows and revered oxen – often perceived as incarnations of deities – can be identified in the religious systems of several ancient civilizations and modern nations, ranging from Europe, to Africa and the Middle East. The most prominent example of this is of course India, where Hinduism perceives cows as sacred and, as historian Hannah Velten points out, ‘mothers of the Universe’, associated as they are with the goddess Prithvi. India has the largest concentrated population of cows in the world; unsurprisingly, however, and in virtue of their religious associations, the slaughter and consumption of cattle is forbidden in most areas of the country. Indeed, the consumption of beef – seen as an abomination by most strands of Hinduism – has formed one of the building blocks for the longstanding rivalry with and dislike of neighbouring Muslim and beef-eating cultural factions, now mainly residing in Pakistan.

By 4000 BC, cattle were fully domesticated and had become a reliable presence in human groups. They had also evolved into two main and distinct sub-categories, which formed the basis for the development of cow species around the world: these are known as the ‘humpless’ cattle (Bos taurus) – which developed originally in Africa and the Near East – and the ‘humped’ cattle (B. indicus), more indigenous to Indian regions. Velten asserts that, without a doubt, these two species played an ‘enormous role in shaping civilisation’, impacting not only on lifestyle – their culinary uses converting human existence from nomadic to sedentary – but also functioning as an important socio-economic expression of wealth. Cattle were used for work – providing an unparalleled aid in the development of agriculture – and in the production of dairy products. Cattle skins also provided warmth against the elements, transforming the cow into an all-round reliable source for all human necessities. As distinctions between dairy cattle and cattle intended for meat consumption evolved over the centuries, beef became not only a primary source of food – an obvious and expected development given the size of cattle and the large amounts of meat they could produce – but also an important item carrying a high exchange value within local markets around the globe. In his famous Histories, written between 450 and 420 BC, the Greek Herodotus records the importance of beef as part of not only the social but also the economic life of civilizations, saying that in ancient Egypt each of the king’s bodyguards was commonly paid with ‘two pounds of beef’ as part of their daily remuneration.

Today, cattle are present virtually in every country, on every continent in the world, and the consumption of beef forms the basis of many diets for hundreds of cultures. Many cattle breeds have been developed over the centuries specifically with beef consumption in mind. An example of this is the Chianina cattle in Italy, which – while having been known since the first century AD as a working breed – was specifically selected for intensive breeding in the early twentieth century; the particular fast-growing rates of this cattle make it the perfect specimen for the meat industry, giving great quantities of lean and high-quality beef. Another well-known and well-regarded breed is the Aberdeen Angus (or simply Angus), a type that was descended from cattle native to the Aberdeen-shire and Angus regions of Scotland. This particular cattle was developed by Scottish breeder Hugh Watson specifically for beef consumption in the mid-1800s, with the intention of producing large quantities of very high-quality meat. Watson selected the best specimens from Scottish cattle and obtained what is known as the ‘Angus’ through selective and intensive cross-breeding. In spite of its popularity not only in the UK, but particularly also in the U.S., the quality of Aberdeen Angus beef did not become protected until 1978, when a specification-based, branded beef programme was initiated in order to produce what is known as Certified Angus Beef (CAB). Within the food service industry, the term ‘Angus Beef’ is often misappropriated and confused with CAB. The latter, on the other hand, is an appellative that can be given only to particular beef that has been grown and reared in an establishment approved by the American Angus Association and its British counterparts.

Across the globe, beef is consumed in a variety of ways, producing a number of highly differing dishes, ranging from elaborate concoctions of thin strips of meat, to hearty beef stews and family-feeding barbecues. It is not only the flesh of cattle that is consumed; beef is used as the basis of several meat by-products such as beef gravy and beef tea. A myriad of national and internationally known dishes containing beef can be found throughout the world. The impact of immigration and open-trade markets – especially in the post-industrialist era of the twentieth century – have allowed beef and beef dishes to travel across geographical boundaries. The burger, one of the most famous and infamous incarnations of beef in the modern world, is a known food that can be recognized in virtually every country, the American version given by fast food chains often surpassing in knowledge more traditional and homemade variations of the beef patty. But the burger, however, is not the only manifestation of beef that has a claim to fame. Well-known dishes such as beef Wellington, beef bourguignon and beef stroganoff have conquered the eating habits of populations throughout the globe, largely transcending and exceeding their respective places of origin in Britain, France and Russia.

How Beef Got its Name

In the modern English language, the word ‘beef’ owes its origins to factors and circumstances that are all but English. Etymologically speaking, the word ‘beef’ is derived from Latin; the ancient Romans referred to the meat of cattle as bubula. This was in contrast to the term bovus, which was commonly used to refer to anything pertaining to oxen and cows. The influence of the Latin terminology is clearly still evident today, its impact unmissable in everyday words such as ‘bovine’, and more scientific terms such as ‘Bovinae’, identifying a biological sub-family that includes various forms of hoofed animals, from domestic cattle to yaks, water buffalos and American bison.

And yet, in spite of the similarities between Latin bubula and our beef, the connection between the two is not as straight forward as one might think. The Romans did conquer Britain and left much evidence of their empire when they left the land in AD 410. However, a direct use of the Latin language was not one such legacy. Indeed, by the time Old English emerged as an early incarnation of the language we use today, Germanic influences had all but revolutionized grammar, terminologies and common references. By the seventh century, the Latin bubula had long been left behind and early English speakers referred to cattle and their meat by the Anglo-Saxon cu, a term that would develop into the Middle English cou, a not-so-early ancestor of our ‘cow’. While this development is unsurprising, it does not answer the question of how beef became known as such. For an answer, we need to skip to 1066, to the battle of Hastings and the Norman-French invasion. As William the Conqueror claimed the shores of Britain, he also laid claim to its language. After the conquest, the Norman aristocracy that took control of England had no interest in adopting the local Anglo-Saxon idiom, as it was perceived to be inappropriate for any form of nobility or genteel expression. As the French nobles shunned the use of the common cou to refer to the meat of cattle, they opted for their own boef – a derivative of the Latin term bubula and an ancestor of the modern French word boeuf. While various manifestations of the Anglo-Saxon Cou remained in use among peasants to refer to live cows, Norman-French speakers – the most common consumers of the animals’ flesh who, however, did not often deal with the live beasts – established their own boef as a suitable term for the meat. The dichotomy became established in Britain and cou and boef co-existed in everyday expression. Through a convoluted etymological journey, then, the meat of cattle found its own seating within the English language, developing through the ages and becoming what has been known for centuries as ‘beef’.

Beef and the Romans

The Romans did not have a particular predilection for beef. It was eaten rarely and, even then, it maintained a clear mark of luxury. Reserved for special occasions, beef was often connected to religious ceremonies. A cow was seen as a very apt sacrifice for the gods and its immolation was treated with the highest respect and consideration, especially during the festival known as tauralia. The animal was slaughtered ritually and while some of its prime parts were actually burned at the altar and ‘reserved’ for the gods, the organs – such as the heart, the liver and the lungs – would be given to the priests, so that they could partake in the ancient ritual of sharing food with the deity, an act that commemorated kinship.

Religious ritual, however, was not the only obstacle that the popularity of beef encountered among the Roman population. Indeed, behind the lack of preference for bovine meat there was a much more mundane, logistical reasoning. Cows were difficult to keep because of their size. They required pastures and the Romans preferred to use land for agriculture and the growth of grains. By virtue of their size, cows also needed to be tended to in various ways that were not required by other animals. So the maintenance of cattle was laborious, time-consuming and not so cost-effective.

In addition, beef was difficult to preserve. Refrigeration techniques were not developed in Roman times and cows, because of their size, would provide large amounts of meat, which proved a challenge. Cold weather was required to keep the beef fresh, and the fact that the Mediterranean region was hot almost year-round meant that it did not prove fitting for the task of beef preservation. So, naturally, the Romans opted for other meats – pork, known as sus or porcus, was the most popular among the plebeian population, while the Roman patricians often opted for extravagant, luxurious and highly prized meats such as ostrich and peacock.

All the same, one should not think that the Romans did not eat beef at all. Generally speaking, cows were kept mainly for fieldwork and dairy consumption, but that does not mean that the meat was shunned. A penchant for veal was particularly prevalent. The famous Apicius or De re Coquinaria – one of the earliest surviving recipe books from Roman times – cites a number of recipes involving beef, such as bubulam cum porris (beef with leeks) and bubula fricta (fried beef steak).

Beef in Europe

Following the influence of the Roman conquest – and subsequent fall of the Roman Empire – beef gained an incremental favour among many European populations. Cattle were raised throughout the continent, both as livestock for meat and dairy products, and as draft animals. The popularity of cattle in Europe had a great impact on rural and urban practices in several countries. Germanic peoples were particularly fond of beef. Viking tribes – flourishing between AD 700 and 900 – were known to exploit all parts of the cow, from using its skin to make leather goods to consuming the flesh of the animal in the form of roasts and stews.

Within the British Isles, the Anglo-Saxons had a distinct predilection for beef, but their interest in the meat seems somewhat curious. Indeed, beef was often consumed for its therapeutic properties. In the Bald’s Leechbook, a domestic manual dating from around AD 95, several ‘recipes’ are listed that include beef; these, however, must be interpreted more as curative remedies than delicious dishes to be consumed for their gastronomic value. The imagistic connection between cow and strength clearly made an impression on the way in which the Anglo-Saxons perceived beef, building a belief that meat deriving from cattle would bestow health upon those who ate it.

The Anglo-Saxons, however, were not the only ones to maintain a conviction that beef could cure disease. As Anglo-Saxon lands evolved into what would later become England, beef retained curative properties in the popular imagination. From the sixteenth century onwards, in particular, a large number of British domestic manuals list beef as a principal medical ingredient. The meat was prescribed to ‘feed a fever’ in the form of beef-based soups and teas. In the eighteenth century, patients suffering from various ailments were often advised to drink ‘beef tonics’. Undoubtedly encouraged by the fear of tuberculosis in the late nineteenth century, popular belief in the invigorating power of beef-based concoctions continued until the early twentieth century, when beef tonics became widely advertised as an essential way to enrich and revitalize the blood.

Beef, however, was not simply enjoyed as a medical marvel. Numerous examples of beef recipes (to be consumed for their gastronomic value) can be found in famous historical cookbooks, such as the French Le Viandier – dating from around 1300 – and the English Forme of Cury, compiled by the Master-Cooks of Richard II in 1390. Although beef had an undeniable presence in late medieval life, it was by no means the favourite meat. Historical records show that beef took a secondary position to fish, chicken and pork, the latter being the most popular ‘meat’ as such. In the Iberian Peninsula, numerous Catalan cookbooks dating from around 1450 show that mutton was definitely the meat of choice for the local population, both common and aristocratic.

In the early decades of the Renaissance, and following the Black Death’s devastating impact on farming and agriculture, meat derived from cattle was subjected to a distinct revival in favour. In fourteenth- and fifteenth-century Italy, veal was particularly appreciated as a ‘summer meat’, its lighter texture and flavour making it a more delectable option than beef’s earthy and wintery appeal. Overall, beef was regarded as too coarse for the refined upper classes, which preferred to consume delicate and visually pleasing meats such as heron and swan. The extravagant tastes of the aristocracy grew exponentially after the discovery of America in 1492, when exotic ingredients such as vanilla, peanuts and novel breeds of fowl began to attract the attention of many noble gourmands.

The role of beef as a ‘peasant meat’ survived until the nineteenth century. British cookbooks prove that ever since the Middle Ages beef has been used as a filling for pies. In eighteenth-century England, the meat even evolved into a popular food for the masses within cities. Beef pies were known to have been sold in the streets of London as a quick and affordable meal. Beef – cheaply purchased in large quantities – was often the vendors’ favourite ingredient because their customers were numerous enough to consume the product of a slaughtered cow in a matter of days. Street-sold pies were extremely popular and, in a way, functioned as the beginning of beef’s longstanding relationship with ‘fast food’.

Beef in America

"Being American is to eat a lot of beef steak, and boy, we’ve got a lot more beef steak than any other country, and that’s why you ought to be glad you are an American".

Kurt Vonnegut

As difficult as it might be to imagine today, beef is a relatively recent addition to the American diet. Cattle were not indigenous to the American continent, and while herds of wild bison roamed the prairies and were consumed by Native American tribes for centuries, domesticated cattle did not actually reach the shores of the New World until the Spanish conquistadors introduced them in 1540. In 1623, two Devon heifers and a Devon bull were imported to the Plymouth Colony from Britain. Although mainly used for dairy produce and fieldwork, Devon cattle were highly valued in the American colonies. One has to wait until the early eighteenth century in order to witness cattle systematically raised in farms by the colonists – likely of Spanish, French and British origin – for consumption purposes. As the new American country grew, so did its infrastructure, allowing early American examples of the cattle industry to blossom, develop and fortify. By 1871, new refrigeration methods allowed the transportation of meat to be an easy enough task and, as a result, the cattle industry was radically transformed. A number of slaughterhouses were quickly established across the Midwest and shipments of meat to all corners of the country regularly took place. As the demand for cattle meat quickly replaced the existing (and by no means erased) preference for chicken and pork, beef was given a prominent position on American tables, from San Antonio to New Orleans, from Detroit to New York. During and after the Second World War, the cattle industry reached its apogee and beef became a ready symbol for American affluence. Beef’s aesthetic qualities allowed it to become a metaphorical representation of American sanguinity and American science was only too obliging in confirming the meat’s nutritional qualities, including its high content of essential protein. It was estimated that by 1952, the average American consumed 28 kg (62 lb) of beef a year. Finding its most American of incarnations in the hamburger patty, beef became incorporated into the American diet to such an extent that the historian Josh Ozersky defines the beefburger as the American ‘meal par excellence’.

By the time the 1960s were in full swing, beef had taken on a role that pushed its boundaries beyond its gastronomic merits. In the midst of the Cold War, beef became a powerful symbol in propaganda. In 1960, a famous promotional movie entitled Beef Rings the Bell proclaimed that beef steaks and burgers were an ‘American institution’. Running on the assumption that the audience adored beef – as was probably the case – Beef Rings the Bell encouraged consumers to support the American cattle industry by eating beef on a regular basis, an act that, aside from bringing economic prosperity to the country, was levelled as a signifier of expected patriotism. The propagandist intentions of the beef campaigns in the 1960s clearly had the desired effect on the population and, while the cattle industry continued to boom, by 1970 the average American was eating 50 kg (110 lb) of beef a year, almost twice the amount that had been consumed only twenty years before.

Today, the U.S. produces about 25 per cent of the world’s beef supply with – somewhat surprisingly – less than 10 per cent of the world’s cattle population. Across the land, Texas remains the top beef-producing state.

Argentine Beef

The cattle industry in Argentina has a long and established history. Indeed, beef is such an integral part of the culture of Argentina, both materially and metaphorically, that one might venture to say that consuming the meat is part of being Argentinian. As was the case with North America, cattle were not indigenous to South America. Cattle were introduced to what is now Argentina in the early sixteenth century by – unsurprisingly – Spanish conquistadors, who obviously had a penchant for taking their cows and oxen with them wherever they went. The Argentine pampas proved an excellent geographical set-up for the herds of cattle that were left to roam and, as a result of underdeveloped infrastructures, the cow population grew quickly. With time, however, local landowners capitalized on the production of beef and, over a relatively short period, the cattle industry flourished. By the eighteenth century, Argentina had established itself as the biggest producer and consumer of beef in Latin America. Once the nineteenth century arrived, technology once again proved the most important factor in the part beef played in the country’s economy. Railway construction aided the establishment of commercial infrastructures and, thanks to the newly arrived refrigeration cars, beef could be transported over large geographical areas, causing the Argentinian beef industry to thrive on an international scale. By 1886, Argentinian beef was in high demand and the geographical position of the country – located in the Southern hemisphere – allowed the meat to be available at times when European and American beef was ‘out of season’.

With such an imposing presence in the economic fabric of the country, beef inevitably also played an essential part in the historical development of local customs, traditions and, at times, even folklore. Culturally speaking, eating habits and festivities in Argentina developed in connection with beef. The ever-local asado – the term used for a range of barbecuing techniques in Argentina, also giving its name to a popular social event – emerged concomitantly with the development of the beef industry. While the meats cooked as part of an asado festivity also included a wide range of pork and chicken cuts, beef towered uncontested as the favourite, therefore creating a cultural association between its consumption and a much-beloved, perhaps romanticized, vision of community and family life. And the romanticization of beef in Argentina does not stop at eating. The prominent figure of the gaucho – a pampas-dwelling, brooding, poncho-wearing Argentinean who is a loose equivalent of the American cowboy – is surrounded by an ever-growing number of stories about courage and bravado, associating all elements of the beef industry with a sense of Argentinian pride, patriotism and almost melancholy attachment to the past.

Unsurprisingly, as undeniable economic advantages and passionate tales of pampas heroism interweave in the history of the country’s cattle industry, beef still maintains its hold on Argentina’s way of life today. In 2006, it was estimated that Argentinians were the world’s second-largest consumers of beef per capita, with the average Argentinian eating 55 kg (121 lb) of beef per year. The Argentinian cattle industry maintains a reputation for producing very high-quality beef. As a result, Argentina is the third-largest exporter of beef in the world, after Brazil and Australia. The dream of the gaucho roaming the pampas, guarding the cattle and gazing at the stars lives on, it would seem. I wonder if the cows are just as starstruck. Probably not.

Japanese Beef

I know what you are thinking. You know your cows. Japanese beef is highly prized, a special category of meat that is coveted and expensive and served only in the best and most fashionable restaurants around the world. You are imagining television chefs singing the praises of Kobe beef and proclaiming its superior qualities. And you are probably assuming, just as I did, that the Japanese might have been perfecting ‘the art of beef’ for centuries, perhaps even millennia. As it turns out, the history of beef in Japan is not longstanding; it is, without a doubt, a modern development.

Prior to the year 1868, eating the flesh of four-legged animals was prohibited in Japan. Since the country showcases strong Buddhist influences, the prohibition does not come as a surprise. The ban over eating large farm animals became particularly strict during what is known as the Edo period (1603–1867) in order to support the development of agriculture. Over time, the religious influence on food prohibitions became en tangled with cultural parameters and the consumption of beef was perceived as a national taboo. Nonetheless, things changed radically in 1867 with the ascent to the throne of Emperor Meiji. The new emperor had a desire to build strong relations – particularly of an economic nature – with the West and regarded the consumption of beef as an essential part of his political strategy. Wanting to reduce the traditional social and cultural barriers that separated Japan from countries such as the U.S., Emperor Meiji lifted the ban on beef and encouraged its consumption among the population. While pork remained the meat of choice across the country, beef-eating slowly became more prevalent in the early twentieth century. Specifically, the inhabitants of the Kinki Region – which included Kyoto, Kobe and Osaka – were known to be, and still are today, the heaviest beef eaters in the country. Japanese folklore has it that the consumption of beef was carried out in the Kobe region as a secret ritual even during the times of the beef ban, with famous shoguns showing a predilection for the prized meat. While little historical evidence exists in support of this claim, the preference for Kobe beef throughout Japan after the Meiji culinary revolution is difficult to argue.

Kobe beef traditionally comes from wagyu cattle. The appellative of ‘Kobe’ refers to the geographical region where this type of herd was first reared. ‘Wa’ is an ancient Japanese term for Japan, and one of the meanings of ‘gyu’ is beef, with a specific ‘on the hoof’ connotation. Currently, there are five principal breeds of wagyu cattle in Japan: Japanese Blacks, Japanese Browns, Japanese Polls, Japanese Long-horns and Kumamoto Reds. These breeds are not strictly native to the country and are the result of a substantial infusion of European blood during the Meiji era. After 1910, however, the importing of European breeds ceased and it was not until the Second World War that the Japanese government began to encourage the registration of cattle exhibiting superior traits from both foreign and native types. In 1948, the National Wagyu Cattle Registration Association was established and the production of beef became the focus of careful screening programmes aimed at producing the best-quality meat in Japan.

Genetically speaking, wagyu cattle have a disposition to hold a higher percentage of omega 3 fatty acids. This fact is responsible for the marbled appearance of the meat, which not only functions as the trademark of Kobe beef but also bestows upon the meat its distinctive taste. The natural softness of Kobe beef is encouraged in the industry by adding a small amount of sake to the cattle’s feed and massaging their muscles to support the iconic marbling. The latter fact has given birth to the conception that wagyu cattle are the most pampered cows in the industry, enjoying the many benefits of true Japanese hospitality.

In spite of Japan’s cultural attachment to Kobe beef, however, most wagyu cattle are not actually raised in Japan. While for decades the Japanese government prohibited the export of any live wagyu cattle in an attempt to protect and safeguard the quality of Kobe beef, four wagyu animals were imported to the United States in 1976. By 1993, California had become the greatest producers of Kobe beef in the world. By 2001, Australia also claimed its place as a high-profile producer of Kobe beef. Today, both the U.S. and Australia have an accord with the Japanese Wagyu Association so that they can raise wagyu cattle and produce Kobe beef for world export and consumption under strict laws. One of these laws demands that wagyu cattle be raised within specific parameters and that the traditional methods for obtaining Kobe marbling be respected – with muscle massages as a strict priority. The pampering of wagyu cattle, whether taking place in Japan or any other corner of the world, clearly still has its desired effect and Kobe beef maintains its status as a highly coveted delicacy.

Beef Down Under

In Australia, the beef cattle industry is one of the most profitable areas of the country’s economy, generating more than $3 billion a year. The beef industry has been prevalent in Australia since its colonial origins and beef has been intertwined with the country’s growth and development for centuries. Cattle were first brought to Australia on the First Fleet, which came from Britain in 1788. The Fleet’s aim was to bring people to the newly ‘discovered’ Australian continent and establish the first settlements for British colonists. Cattle travel led with them and laid their claim to the Australian economy very early on. In the initial years of the colonies, however, the intended use of cattle was for fieldwork and transport. Australian rural folklore has it that in the early 1790s, a few specimens of cattle strayed and were found several years later, the numbers of their wild herd having grown to 60. There is no evidence to either discard or assure this claim; what is known, however, is that by 1820 there were already 54,000 cattle in Australia, their number having spectacularly risen to six times this figure by 1840. The demand for beef, and the idea of using cattle for consumption on a large industrial scale, did not appear until the 1850s, when the Gold Rushes hit Australia and groups of hungry miners invaded its lands. As the demand for beef grew quickly, Australian drovers moved their cattle herds away from urban areas – Sydney in particular – and settled them as far as Western Australia. The cattle were known to have travelled for weeks, often having to swim long distances to reach their destinations.

By the time the twentieth century hit, Australia had become a great beef producer, with its cattle industry booming as the country’s greatest economic force. Today, the state of Queensland is the greatest producer of beef, with the meat coming from popular Hereford, Shorthorn and Murray Grey cattle. Australia, as a result, is one of the largest and most successful exporters of beef in the world. It goes without saying that the Australians enjoy beef immensely as well, making a cultural virtue of their beloved summer barbecues – a true Australian institution.

On the other side of the Tasman Sea, New Zealand also prides itself on a developing history of beef. Cattle were imported to New Zealand from the UK in 1814, when Reverend Samuel Marsden set up a mission station on the northern shores of the newly formed colony. As time passed, more Europeans settled in New Zealand and, in the early 1840s, more cattle were imported from Australia. Most of these were what used to be referred to as Durham, a breed that later developed into what are now commonly known as Short horn cattle. Traditionally, however, beef cattle have often taken a secondary position in the New Zealand farming industry, falling behind dairy cattle – which allowed the country to become one of the principal exporters of dairy products in the world – and, of course, sheep. As early as 1851, the ratio of sheep to beef cattle in New Zealand was six to one. The higher ratio remained steady for more than a century, and it reached its peak in the early 1960s, with sheep outnumbering cattle in the country by fourteen to one. However, by the mid-1980s, and after the government restructured the subsidisation schemes for farming, the numbers of beef cattle inhabiting the rolling hills of New Zealand grew dramatically. Since the 1990s, the export market has been the focus of the New Zealand beef industry. Indeed, it is estimated that New Zealand exports more than 80 per cent of its beef, a very impressive percentage. Overall, New Zealand produces only 1 per cent of the world’s beef, but nevertheless supplies approximately 8 per cent of the global beef trade.

New Zealand cattle are mostly allowed to roam freely in green pastures that are mainly concentrated on the North Island of the country. Beef cattle are primarily grass-fed and not fattened on grain – the latter a health concern that has attracted the attention of animal welfare associations around the world and which, clearly, New Zealand as a beef-producing country is very keen to avoid. The general population of New Zealand has developed a distinct taste for beef over time; nonetheless, lamb still remains the meat of choice among Kiwis, who are very happy to supply beef of the highest standard and send it as an ambassador to promote the country’s excellence in farming around the world.

Written by Lorna Piatti-Farnell in "Beef - A Global History", Reaktion Books, London, UK, 2013, excerpt chapter one. Digitized, adapted and illustrated to be posted by Leopoldo Costa.