The Off Topic Topic

[Jacob]

I thought "wagyu" was the term for the category as whole, but then you have specific breeds/ regions like Kobe and Takayama and so forth.

Kobe is essentially a PDO - it has a very specific meaning.

"Wagyu" is meant to imply Kobe-style beef, but it has no special defined meaning and in reality could be just about anything.

There is more than one region in Japan producing really high quality well-marbled beef. Kobe is the one that's best known outside of Japan, but it is not necessarily the best (though of course in matters taste opinions differ).

[Razgovory]

Sure, and some of those trying to cash in are makers of sparkling wines in the Champagne province of France.  The quality of protected champagne varies enormously.  You can pay US$54 for a bottle of 2002 Champagne champagne, or US$4,285, or anything in between.  The PDO doesn't seem to me to be a great indicator of quality.

Yup.

The question is who gets to cash in on the cachet built up around the term "Champagne". Should the Canadian producers of Baby Duck be able to do so or not? That's the core of the question.

Obviously opinions differ on the answer.

What does Baby Duck taste like?

[garbon]

My point was that I don't think you've ever had the original cheddar if we are following Jacob's line of reasoning about tracing things to their originators. Existing cheddar is not the same.

Yeah but I don't think that's ever been my point - or what Jake's saying.

I'm not really sure where the harm is with regards to those cheaper, inferior forms. I don't think that the affordable, widely available form really hurts sales of the superior, more expensive form by virtue of them both being called cheddar. In the groceries stores that I grew up with in the US, the better quality cheeses were in a separate section (more often in the deli area vs generic refrigerated section).

But their brand is trashed. It does need to lose them money for that to be a bad thing.

Why do they need to be protected? Why the artificial propping up of haphazardly chosen foods/traditions?

For the same reason we list some buildings or we make Areas of Natural Beaty or conservation ares - that's for our built and natural environment. This is cultural and also sensory.

This is a view so alien to me that I doubt there is much worth discussing here.

[garbon]

Sure, and some of those trying to cash in are makers of sparkling wines in the Champagne province of France.  The quality of protected champagne varies enormously.  You can pay US$54 for a bottle of 2002 Champagne champagne, or US$4,285, or anything in between.  The PDO doesn't seem to me to be a great indicator of quality.

Yup.

The question is who gets to cash in on the cachet built up around the term "Champagne". Should the Canadian producers of Baby Duck be able to do so or not? That's the core of the question.

Obviously opinions differ on the answer.

Is it all cachet cashing or just using generally understood terms? I think it would be harder for people to understand greek-style salad cheese.

[The Brain]

How is a business more worthy of cashing in on someone else's work because it is located in the same region?

[Josquius]

Checking up apparently wagyu is the name of a breed of cow and they're in North Yorkshire now.
Huh. I always thought it meant specifically cattle from Japan.didnt think they'd be so crap with their breed naming.

Cheating

But I checked the UK register - I imagine the EU's the same - and these are the two protected wagyu beefs:

    宮崎牛 / Miyazaki Wagyu / Miyazaki Beef

    Protected food name with Protected Geographical Indication (PGI)
        Registered name: 宮崎牛 / Miyazaki Wagyu / Miyazaki Beef Status: Registered Country of origin: Japan Date registration: 1 January 2021
    鹿児島黒牛 / KAGOSHIMA WAGYU

    Protected food name with Protected Geographical Indication (PGI)
        Registered name: 鹿児島黒牛 / KAGOSHIMA WAGYU Status: Registered Country of origin: Japan Date registration: 1 January 2021

Curious Miyazaki got theirs but the far more famous and powerful kobe didn't.

Kagoshima wagyu I've not even heard of. Never been to kagoshima though, it's on my unfulfilled list.

[Jacob]

This is a view so alien to me that I doubt there is much worth discussing here.

The view that preserving nature reserves and heritage buildings is worthwhile is alien to you?

[Sheilbh]

Curious Miyazaki got theirs but the far more famous and powerful kobe didn't.

Kagoshima wagyu I've not even heard of.

Maybe kobe is the cheddar of Japan - that ship's sailed. Or there's lots of producers in kobe who can truthfully sell any old crap as kobe wagyu who don't want restrictions on the other factors Jake mentioned because it would kill the golden goose.

This is a view so alien to me that I doubt there is much worth discussing here.

Fair. As I say there's no issue I go more fully European (French)/antimonidialisation than this

[Barrister]

Sure, and some of those trying to cash in are makers of sparkling wines in the Champagne province of France.  The quality of protected champagne varies enormously.  You can pay US$54 for a bottle of 2002 Champagne champagne, or US$4,285, or anything in between.  The PDO doesn't seem to me to be a great indicator of quality.

Yup.

The question is who gets to cash in on the cachet built up around the term "Champagne". Should the Canadian producers of Baby Duck be able to do so or not? That's the core of the question.

Obviously opinions differ on the answer.

What does Baby Duck taste like?

It tastes like sad.

[Malthus]

Reminds me, slightly nostalgically, of a time when all Ontario wines were guaranteed to be terrible. 😄

[garbon]

This is a view so alien to me that I doubt there is much worth discussing here.

The view that preserving nature reserves and heritage buildings is worthwhile is alien to you?

[Sheilbh]

This is exciting - another example of a trend. I think I saw stories about certain cancern vaccines and alzheimers too. Basically it feels like a spillover effect of flooding money into a vaccine being developed ASAP has helped kickstart all sorts of other possible vaccines. I've mentioned before but I think something similar happened with the US war on cancer leading to huge biotech innovations through the 80s - and again why I think we should learn from this for climate:
https://www.itv.com/news/2021-07-05/trials-of-new-hiv-vaccine-begin-at-oxford-university

[DGuller]

In USSR, there was no nonsense with PDOs.  You had Soviet champagne and Armenian cognac.  They're still called that on the labels, though only in Russian.  In English it's Soviet sparkling wine and Armenian brandy.  Armenian cognac wasn't exactly Hennessy XO, but if it were close to bedtime and you were all out of vodka, it would do.

[Eddie Teach]

Weren't you 13 when you left?

[DGuller]

Weren't you 13 when you left?

I wasn't talking from personal experience.  I was only drinking beer at that age.