Honoring island traditions and promoting regional variations of local dishes are at the heart of a new USMEF marketing program to incorporate U.S. beef and pork into culinary communities throughout the Caribbean islands.

“The culinary histories of the islands are fascinating and ever-evolving,” said USMEF Caribbean Representative Elizabeth Wunderlich. “But there are no resources available that capture the multi-cultural influences — historic and contemporary — that shape Caribbean cuisine, from island to island.”

Developed with industry support and in collaboration with local food scholars and regional chefs, Contemporary Caribbean Cuisine is aimed at regional culinary schools and foodservice professionals, focusing on the food history and culinary traditions of islands throughout the Caribbean.

USMEF is going from island to island, Wunderlich said, to promote usage of the textbook as a learning resource about the evolution of Caribbean cuisine and as a culinary guide to experiment with new and traditional Caribbean dishes utilizing a variety of U.S. beef and pork cuts and variety meats.

“Our goal is for this textbook to become a go-to resource for educators, chefs and foodservice professionals in the region.  Recipes were gathered from a wealth of sources such as the Taste of Caribbean, regional chef competitions and a host of regional chefs, including USMEF Corporate Chef German Navarrete,” Wunderlich said.

Wunderlich also acknowledged U.S. industry support for the project, explaining that all beef recipes included in the textbook were tested at Certified Angus Beef’s Culinary Center in Wooster, Ohio, while all pork recipes were tested at DeBragga & Spitler’s test kitchen in Jersey City, N.J.

USMEF has also developed a seminar for foodservice professionals based on the textbook, which includes cut training and cooking demonstrations for underutilized cuts such as the U.S. beef tri-tip and pork CT butt. For some islands, chef ambassadors have been trained on U.S. beef and pork quality attributes and will assist in implementing the seminars.

Funding support was provided by the Beef Checkoff Program, Texas Beef Council, Iowa Corn Promotion Board and USDA’s Market Access Program.

Source: U.S. Meat Export Federation