Kobe Beef

You Only Live Twice sees James Bond try new dining experiences. One of the more appetising descriptions is of Bond and Tiger Tanaka dining out on Kobe beef steaks, which James Bond finds to be without equal.

In the book we learn the reason that the highly prized Kobe beef is so expensive. The scene where Bond samples his Kobe beef steak follows an amusing scene where Bond is instructed in the art of caring for a Kobe beef herd.

First, Bond feeds the cow with a bottle of beer. Then, taking a mouthful of shochu (a Japanese spirit that can be distilled from ingredients such as potatoes, sugar, rice or barley).

Bond sprays the shochu over the cow’s back and is then instructed to massage it – “the herdsman was greatly impressed by your sincere performance with his cow”, says Tiger to Bond afterwards.