Wagyu beef

While watching an episode of Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations on the Travel Channel, I learned something new about Kobe beef.  I always thought that Kobe beef was a breed of cattle named after the region in Japan where they're raised and get their muscles massaged and sake added to their diet to improve the taste.  Turns out that information is only partly correct - Kobe beef actually comes from several breeds of wagyu cattle who are raised not only in Kobe but also in various parts of Australia and New Zealand (and in a hybrid form, the US).  For more information than you probably care to know, here's the wikipedia link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wagyu_beef.

I must admit that I've never had the pleasure of eating kobe beef in it's steak format (as it was probably intended to be eaten), instead I had it once in a trendy restaurant in the form of sliders (tiny hamburgers that seem to be all the rage now).  Needless to say, the amount of Kobe/wagyu beef I got was minimal and so I don't feel like I really got to experience the full benefit of it.  It is on my list of things to try eventually only now I know that I can also look for wagyu on the menu.