World meat industry news

Continuing its efforts to educate Kazakhstan’s retail and hotel, restaurant and institutional (HRI) sectors about new U.S. beef cuts available in the market, USMEF held a workshop for chefs in the capital city of Astana and a promotional event at a popular, high-end grocery in Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest city. These two recent activities, along with USMEF’s participation in a special reception at the U.S. Embassy in Astana, were funded by the USDA Market Access Program and the Beef Checkoff Program.

Chef Khorhe Sevilya presents U.S. beef cuts and demonstrates their use in various barbecue dishes during a U.S. beef workshop in Astana, Kazakhstan (Foto: usmef.org)

The U.S. beef workshop, described as an “outreach session” by USMEF Representative Galina Kochubeeva, was held at the Astana Gold Club. It included HRI professionals and retailers from Astana and other cities in northwestern Kazakhstan.

“This was the first U.S. beef event in Kazakhstan’s capital this year and the purpose was to educate the HRI market players on secondary U.S. beef cuts and share experts’ experiences and ideas for working with U.S. beef,” explained Kochubeeva. “We invited local chefs to demonstrate different barbecue cooking methods using an oven, a grill and a smoker.”

At a U.S. beef promotion at Esentai Gourmet in Almaty, Chef Sevilya discusses the value and versatility of U.S. beef secondary cuts (Foto: usmef.org)

Executive chef Khorhe Sevilya of Globe Gourmet, a well-known retail chain, helped lead the workshop, developing the menu and sauces for Texas-style barbecue brisket, short ribs al Porto with chickpea cream, short plate with chipotle sauce and ribeye with baked pepper sauce. U.S. beef secondary cuts were also featured in dishes such as flap tail tataki under ponzu, churrasco with chimichurri and top blade minute and California steaks with peppery and chili sauces.