Piedmontese Cattle

Healthy, Low fat, Low Cholesterol, Tender Red Meat

The mg of cholesterol in a 100g piece of Piemontese beef is just 48.5mg compared with other beef (73mg), pork (79mg), roast chicken (76mg). (www.piemontese.org.uk)

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Research conducted by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) at the MARC Center compared eleven breeds of cattle. The results of these studies confirm that not only is Piemontese beef genetically lower in fat than other breeds, it had the lowest fat thickness, .29-inches, and the greatest tenderness, 11.0 pounds on the Warner Bratzler Shear Force test, of all the breeds in the study. Results also showed that the average Piemontese steak was almost 70 grams heavier than the Hereford-Angus cross steak (357.1 grams compared to 288.3 grams) which is expected due to larger rib-eye areas on Piemontese.  (www.pauscattle.org)

History of the Breed 

Piemontese cattle originate from the region of Piedmont in northwest Italy, a region that is secluded and protected by the Alps mountain range. This area was populated with an ancient European breed of cattle known as Auroch (Bos Primigenius). Descendants of the Aurochs and other domestic European cattle common to the more temperate zones belong to the species of bovine known as Bos Taurus.

Approximately 25,000 years ago, Zebu (or Brahman) cattle (Bos Indicus), which were common in tropical areas such as India and Africa, began to migrate from Pakistan, some of which stopped preferring the valleys of the Piedmont region, taking advantage of the natural Alpine barriers.
 

These two distinct breeds, the Auroch and the Zebu, blended and evolved in the harsh mountain terrain over thousands of years to become the Piemontese breed.