It doesn't take much looking to see that Piedmontese beef is something new on the hoof. And now, thanks to a Web site and a busy packing and shipping warehouse in Wichita, the new beef is also showing up on dinner plates in homes across the country. Leachman Cattle Co. They are fundamentally different in genetic makeup. In traditional beef cattle, that gene is active, and it limits muscle growth and encourages the storing of fat, the trait that gives beef its marbling. In Piedmontese cattle, that gene is inactive, and the animals grow much heavier muscle and store less fat.
Piedmontese beef has about half the calories and a third of the fat of traditional beef.
Some cuts, like the round roast, are as low in fat as skinless chicken breast. The flavor and tenderness profile, however, is comparable to the highest quality marbled beef. Researchers at the University of Michigan isolated and documented the genetic difference several years ago during a study of Piedmontese cattle that had been imported to the United States as an exotic show breed. Leachman Cattle Co. of Billings, Mont., a longtime leader in beef genetics, operates the largest bull production operation in the world. It became interested in the breed after the genetic difference was documented.