Beef Poke Makes A Debut At Taste! Lancaster

Beef showcased with 8,000 foodies.

Beef was a hot commodity in Lancaster, Pa., at the area’s premier food festival, attracting consumers who enjoy the pleasures of eating and entertaining with food. The Taste! Lancaster Festival of Food, Wine & Spirits 2018 welcomed nearly 8,000 guests to the Lancaster Convention Center Nov. 16-17.

The beef checkoff highlighted beef’s versatility and flavor profile to the crowds as they passed through the festival space. Chef Barry Strand, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), a contractor to the National Beef Checkoff Program, was on-site to demonstrate the new culinary craze of Beef Poke, sharing its trendy appeal to the millennial and foodie crowd. Nearly 1,600 samples of the tangy and delicious recipe were distributed.

This interactive beef kiosk was debuted at the festival, allowing consumers to watch beef videos, view the interactive beef cut chart, email themselves delicious recipes and enter to win the coveted beef prize pack.

“We wanted to highlight this dish for two reasons. Ribeye filet is a cut that not many people have tried before. You can ask your butcher to break this down for you, or you can get more hands-on and fabricate this cut yourself,” says Strand. “There are cutting videos available on www.beefitswhatsfordinner.com. Also, according to Whole Foods Market Top 10 Trends of 2019, flavors of Hawaii and the Pacific Rim will be huge in 2019. This recipe capitalizes on the trend of poke, a traditional Hawaiian dish, using the flavorful beef ribeye filet, without using the traditional raw ingredients.”

Along with a weekend of culinary demos, Chef Barry also showcased a step-by-step breakdown of the beef ribeye subprimal, demonstrating how cost-effective this can be if done at home. Attendees were fascinated by the cutting demo and watched in amazement as Chef Barry talked through the best technique to freeze beef at home, as well.

“Buying beef in bulk and learning the proper steps to freezing beef in smaller portions is a great option for feeding your family on a budget,” comments Jennifer Orr, director of nutrition education with the Northeast Beef Promotion Initiative (NEBPI).

New to the beef booth was a Recipe Inspiration Kiosk, a digital experience where consumers had the opportunity to learn more about beef fabrication, view checkoff promoted videos, enter to win the “Beef & Wine” entertaining basket and even share recipes with themselves from BeefItsWhatsForDinner.com. Of those entering the survey at the kiosk, 84% stated they have a positive opinion of beef.

Overall, the checkoff was glad to be involved in this local foodie event, educating consumers on the many benefits of beef from its versatility, economical capabilities and delicious flavor profile. The checkoff is thankful to JBS Souderton for the generous donation of beef subprimals for the cutting demonstration and ribeye filets for sampling, in order to help make this event a success.

The event was sponsored by the beef checkoff’s Northeast Beef Promotion Initiative, along with the Pennsylvania, Colorado and Iowa State Beef Councils. For more information about upcoming NEBPI events, visit the NEBPI website and Facebook page. For more information about your beef checkoff investment, visit MyBeefCheckoff.com.

Editor’s note: This article is from the Cattlemen’s Beef Board.