Developing menus and featured dishes while using new cuts of U.S. pork, beef ...

Developing menus and featured dishes while using new cuts of U.S. pork, beef and lamb are skills that will be tested in the seventh annual U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) Chef Competition slated for Aug. 3 in Mexico City.

“This year we are bringing together chefs from Mexico, the Caribbean and the Dominican Republic,” said Gilberto Lozano, USMEF Mexico director. “Inviting chefs from three different markets sparks a creative and friendly atmosphere for the chefs, and challenges the participants to show off the versatility of the U.S. meat cuts.”

The competition encourages the use of U.S. pork, beef and lamb cuts in hotels, upscale restaurants, family-style restaurants, and other traditional and non-traditional restaurants.

The competition is open to all chefs who use U.S. meat and identify it on their menus.

To gear up for the chef competition, USMEF held the second annual Chef Encounter in Mexico City this week as renowned culinary chefs who cook with U.S. meat prepared mouth-watering dishes, then invited guests and media to sample.

The participating chefs noted how the versatility and quality of U.S. pork, beef and lamb make them key ingredients in a successful restaurant enterprise.

After the encounter workshop, chefs met with 120 cooking school students to talk about their careers and experiences. The chefs also shared with the students how they, too, can become master chefs by participating in the USMEF Chef Competition.

Promotional elements of the chef contest include the development of brochures and informational material about the contest that are distributed to eligible chefs throughout the year. Seminars also are held to educate interested chefs about the criteria of the contest and the U.S. meat cuts that will be highlighted. 

“We promote elements of the chef competition throughout the year to eligible chefs and trade teams who attend our educational seminars,” said Liz Wunderlich, USMEF consultant for the Caribbean region. “The chef competition truly is the culmination of our industry efforts and is a salute to the great chefs who utilize U.S. meat products in their work.” 

First-round qualifiers in the competition are selected by the number and variety of cuts that are used on their menus.  The winners are then determined from the first-round qualifiers by a cooking competition, which is judged by prestigious individuals in the media, nutrition and foodservice industries.

All participants in the final competition have their recipes published in a USMEF cookbook, which is distributed to consumers at various USMEF-sponsored activities and events.

“The chef competition integrates all facets of USMEF programs and activities, while offering enjoyment, challenges and competition to industry chefs,” said Wunderlich. “The contest takes the training, which is such an integral part of USMEF activities in the Caribbean, to a new level by rewarding chefs who are innovative and utilize a variety of U.S. cuts.”  

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, lamb, corn, sorghum and soybean checkoff programs.

– USMEF –