Japanese love beef, but hardly eat mutton. What's the story?

Mutton is the treasure of meat, and many people are fascinated by its extremely delicious and tender taste, so that half of the word "fresh" is composed of "sheep". China's food culture is very rich and colorful, but Japan's food is also very famous all over the world, but it seems that in the impression of ordinary people, Japanese people eat less mutton, and even rarely see them eat mutton, even in some food programs.

So why do Japanese love beef, but hardly eat mutton?

Speaking of beef, even people who don't like beef may have heard of Kobe beef, which is one of the most expensive and delicious beef in the world. When it comes to Japanese mutton, everyone seems to have no impression, so they may think that Japanese people don't eat mutton, but this is not the case.

Japanese actually eat mutton. For example, there is a local dish named "ジンギスカン" in Hokkaido, Japan, which means "Genghis Khan" barbecue in Chinese. The origin of the name of this barbecue has always been vague, and it is difficult to delve into it. Its form is a bit like the barbecue in old Beijing, all of which are baked on cast iron baking trays, except that Genghis Khan's barbecue tray is convex. But it is true that mutton is not popular in Japan, so almost this barbecue method has become synonymous with mutton cuisine in some parts of Japan.

Why do Japanese eat mutton, but eat very little? Is it too expensive? Still not delicious?

First of all, the reason why mutton is too expensive to eat should be very small. After all, Japan is one of the few developed countries in Asia. In 20 18, Japan's per capita annual income was $40,845, which was only per capita income, not family income. The mutton barbecue we mentioned above is about $30 per capita, so the possibility of "unaffordable" in theory is not high.

Then it is more likely that mutton is not delicious. This is not to say that mutton in the literal sense is not delicious. More because of the eating habits and tastes determined by the environment, they think mutton is not delicious, or they are not good at making mutton delicious.

Japan has a small land area and relatively limited resources. Dense population leads to particularly tight land. Although I have never raised sheep, I also know that some sheep eat grass but are uprooted, so raising a large number of sheep is a great threat to the ecological environment. If cattle could be bred a long time ago, the comprehensive feeding value of sheep would be much lower. Therefore, due to various conditions, there are not many sheep in Japan since ancient times, and people have little chance to eat mutton. Naturally, there are no such eating habits and cooking techniques. In many places where it is inconvenient to raise sheep, many people are not used to eating mutton. This is the same logic.

What people in a region like to eat and what their tastes prefer are largely determined by the natural environment, geographical environment and products in this region. Judging from the formation of the whole food culture in the past, in most cases, when people get used to eating, they will feel that a thing is delicious, not because it is delicious, but because it is delicious, and they will learn to adapt to eating. Of course, now our era of extremely convenient information and material exchange is different. We are not as imprisoned as before, and the global food culture is also rapidly blending.

So to sum up, it's not that Japanese people don't eat mutton, but that they have no condition to eat mutton since ancient times, and correspondingly, they don't have this eating habit and cooking skills, so naturally, the younger generation will gradually change from "having no condition to eat" to "not used to eating".