The Florida Beef Council has been busy promoting beef at the Food Network South Beach Wine and Food Festival in Miami this past week. We caught up with Deanne Maples with the Florida Beef Council to learn more.
Maples said, “This year marked our third year participating in the Food Network South Beach Wine and Food Festival and it’s really been exciting to see how our involvement has grown each year. We kick things off at Eats which is hosted by Chef Chris Valdez. We partnered again with the New York Beef Council and the Veal Checkoff to promote beef together on behalf of producers nationwide. Chef Morris Salerno traveled with us as he’s done for many years, created a veal wellington with a mushroom risotto. Friday night was steak and whiskey presented by the Florida Beef Council in the Miami Design District and this was our first time being a presenting sponsor for an event at South Beach Wine and Food Festival. So very cool for us. We built the Beef and Barrel Saloon as part of our setup.”
“Chef Rick Neal live fired tomahawk steaks paired with a bourbon pepper jam that was made with Garrison Brothers, a small batch bourbon whiskey. And I have to give a shout out to the Kangshan Cutlery Group. They really equipped our chefs with the tools to execute these dishes all week long. And we wrapped up Saturday night at Masters of Fire serving nearly 3,000 attendees a Korean style beef tri-tip. While our cattle producers work the crowd, they connect directly with consumers about how beef is raised. That’s why these events matter. Great foods, they open the door to conversations. People are curious about their food, where it comes from and hearing directly from producers builds the trust in beef. And it’s the trust in beef that protects the long-term demand for beef,” said Maples.
“And it’s not just for Florida producers, but that’s for cattle operations across the country. So even while this event happens in Miami Beach, we meet people who are attending from across the U.S. and around the world. And it gives us the opportunity to share the story of beef far beyond our borders. That’s how we keep the story of beef moving forward,” said Maples.
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Audio Reporting by Dale Sandlin for Southeast AgNet.