A chef's success starts with the quality of the meat. A group of Egyptian che...

A chef's success starts with the quality of the meat. A group of Egyptian chefs found the quality of U.S. beef to be top-notch in a recent visit to the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) Denver headquarters during a 10-day tour of the United States to gather information on cutting and preparing U.S. beef.

Kevin Smith, assistant director of export services for USMEF, introduced the chefs to the beef knuckle and shoulder clod. The knuckle produces center-tip steak and roast cuts while the shoulder clod produces the flat iron steak and the beef chuck steak and roast.

Smith demonstrated how to cut the knuckle and shoulder clod into steak and roast cuts while pointing out the tenderness and use of each cut.

The flat iron steak, cut from the top of the shoulder clod, was the most tender. Smith demonstrated how to carefully cut and remove connective tissue to preserve the cut's tenderness instead of pulling the meat away from the tissue.

The flat iron, a relatively new cut developed from a study of undervalued beef cuts, has the tenderness of a rib-eye or strip steak. The chefs were enticed by the lower cost of the flat iron compared to a rib-eye and enjoyed its juicy and tender taste.

One chef said U.S. beef is a high-quality product and a pleasure to cook with, but his restaurant buys it in limited quantities due to price. Beef from Brazil and New Zealand is less expensive, but the chefs said the demonstration at USMEF showed them lower-cost cuts from the United States that are tender and tasty.

After closing to U.S. beef in December 2003 after the first case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy was discovered in the United States, Egypt reopened its market March 21 accepting boneless U.S. beef from animals under 30 months.

Through June of this year, U.S. beef and beef variety meat exports to Egypt totaled 4,882 metric tons (mt) valued at $10.1 million.

Smith cooked each cut so the chefs could judge the tenderness and taste. One chef said it gave him new ideas of what beef cut to use for kebabs, a popular dish in Egyptian cooking.

Following the cutting demonstration, Paul Clayton, vice president of export services for USMEF, talked about safety practices and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) regulations the U.S. beef industry follows to ensure U.S. beef is safe.

The U.S. Meat Export Federation is the trade association responsible for developing international markets for the U.S. red meat industry and is funded by USDA, exporting companies, and the beef, pork, corn, sorghum and soybean checkoff programs.

– USMEF –

The following photo is available with this release.

Photo 1 - Kevin Smith, assistant director of export services for USMEF, demonstrates how to cut U.S. beef knuckle to produce round-tip center steaks, which are good for stir-fry or kebabs.