Belgian Blue

Myostatin normally limits muscle growth. In 1997 researchers showed that an 11-base-pair deletion disabling the myostatin gene causes the double-muscled phenotype in Belgian Blue cattle. Breeders in central and upper (southern) Belgium had selected for the trait since the mid-twentieth century. The meat is extremely lean and fine-fibred. Our advice (editorial, not from the cited sources): it is quick to dry out, so it suits fast cooking and careful resting rather than long braising.

The breed is also a welfare debate: the narrow birth canal and large calves mean most births are by caesarean section — in one Belgian research herd, 89.5 % of 493 calvings (Fiems et al. 2001) — which some countries' breeding rules scrutinise.