Let's talk Galician Beef!

I have a bit of a fascination with Galician beef. Not because it is fashionable, although it certainly is. Not because some of the world’s great restaurants and steakhouses now proudly put “Rubia Gallega” on their menus, although they do.

It is because, when you dig into the history, you find a farming system and a philosophy of meat production that I think we in New Zealand should find remarkably familiar, and, in some respects, inspirational.

A very old beef tradition

Cattle have been part of Galician life since prehistoric times. From around the 12th century, cattle became increasingly integrated into the small family farms that characterised the region. By the 18th century, cows and oxen were being used as working animals in the fields and, importantly, were then fattened towards the end of their useful working lives for meat.

In fact, between the 16th and 20th centuries, approximately one third of Spain’s cattle were reared in Galicia.

It wasn't a system based on enormous herds roaming huge ranches. Galicia developed around small family farms, often combining cropping, pasture and livestock. The animal was part of the farm, rather than simply a unit of production.

That distinction matters.

The traditional system involved animals grazing the farm's natural resources, doing some work, and then, towards the end of their lives, receiving a period of careful finishing. Fresh pasture and locally produced feed were important components.

There is something about that which sounds remarkably familiar to me.

When people talk about Galician beef, they generally talk about Rubia Gallega, with good reason.

Rubia Gallega literally means “Galician Blonde”, referring to the breed’s characteristic golden-blonde coat. It is an indigenous Galician breed, with the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture tracing its origins in Galicia back to around 500 BC. Its main population centre today is Lugo.

But it is not the only native cattle breed of Galicia.

There is another group collectively known as the Morenas Gallegas – the darker native Galician breeds. These include Cachena, Caldelá, Frieiresa, Limiá and Vianesa.

These are fascinating cattle in their own right. Some are highly localised, historically adapted to the mountainous areas of Galicia, and several have been under serious conservation pressure.

And here is where things get interesting.

Galician beef isn't necessarily about maintaining some perfectly pure, isolated breed.

Modern Galician beef production has also embraced crossbreeding.

The official IGP specification for Vaca Gallega–Buey Gallego recognises meat from Rubia Gallega, the Morenas Gallegas, Asturiana de los Valles, Limousin, Blonde d’Aquitaine, Friesian and Brown Alpine cattle, both purebred and crossed with one another.

The Galicians have done something farmers everywhere understand instinctively: take the strengths of different animals and try to produce something better suited to the environment and the end product.

And that brings me neatly home.

It sounds a little bit like New Zealand

Think about New Zealand beef farming.

We have Angus, Hereford, Simmental, Charolais and a number of other established beef breeds. We have dairy cattle, particularly Friesians and Jerseys, and we have spent decades crossing breeds to combine attributes – fertility, growth, maternal ability, muscling, finishing ability and adaptation to our pasture-based systems.

Crossbreeding has been a major part of New Zealand cattle production since at least the 1950s, and the use of beef sires over dairy cows is now becoming an increasingly sophisticated part of our beef industry.

And it is worth remembering that Galicia has been doing variations of this for a very long time.

We have the perfect platform to create incredible beef. We have exceptional grass. We have an extraordinary farming climate. We have generations of farming knowledge. We have cattle genetics that are among the best in the world.

But sometimes I think we have become too focused on the idea that the perfect animal is simply the fastest-growing animal that reaches the required specification.

Galicia reminds us that there can be another way.

The old cow

Perhaps the part of the Galician story I find most interesting is the respect for the older animal.

We have become conditioned to think that young automatically means better.

In Galicia, the mature cow has a place. So does the ox.

This is mature beef, and mature beef is extraordinary. A depth of flavour developed and aged literally ‘on the hoof’. The meat is darker. The fat can become deeply coloured and intensely flavoured. The eating experience is less about delicate tenderness and more about depth, texture, richness and the accumulated flavour of an animal that has lived.

There is also something wonderfully honest about it.

The animal isn't being rushed through the system simply because younger is more efficient.

The traditional Galician model recognised that an animal could have another role after its working or breeding life – and that the final stage of that animal's life could be directed towards producing exceptional food.

Several years ago, the Galician style of beef was my inspiration to introduce this older animal vintage beef to New Zealand. The occasional restaurant had tried something similar, but I was the first to make it a general restaurant supply product. It was a product that launched my career in the butchery industry, and I was very fortunate to work with a number of excellent chefs, and to see that beef on the menus of many of New Zealand’s very best restaurants, steakhouses, and luxury lodges.

It was a product that unfortunately had to be parked whilst Heritage meet transitioned into a retail butchery.

Is it a product that I would like to see included in our display cabinets and our online offering? Absolutely! I am working very hard to make that happen, with a plan in place to relaunch early in 2027.

For now, our conventional beef offering will still take much of its inspiration from Galicia. The very best animals, selected from the very best farms. Authentic provenance. Exceptional animal welfare and environmental care, and partnerships with farmers who have one ambition. Not just to produce as much beef as they can, but to produce the very best beef!