U.S. Meat Export Federation Corporate Chef German Navarrete is based in Mexico City, but his talents are employed throughout the world.
With support from USDA and the Beef Checkoff Program, Chef Navarrete recently educated chefs and culinary students from the Middle East about the attributes of U.S. beef. The roadshow in the Middle East started in the United Arab Emirates and moved down to Bahrain, Kuwait, and finally, Saudi Arabia.
In all these places, we talked about all of the U.S. beef attributes. All of the attendants had a chance to test different graded cuts that we presented, such as strip loin, ribeye, flank steak, and we also worked with brisket and short ribs,” Navarrete says. “We trained students, male and female. It’s very important to train future professionals because they will be using the product in the years to come. So it was a very important first step in this direction.”
The chef’s vast experience in Latin America brought a unique perspective to the training sessions where he taught participants how to avoid overcooking high-quality beef.
I proposed some new ideas that probably are not very common in the region, because of the influence
that they have from other countries over there – Lebanese, mainly, some from the northern part of
Africa,” he says. “One of the things that I find very similar to Latin America is that they like to have their beef very well done. So one of the aspects that we’ll try to cover is highlighting that cooking it medium will allow them to really enjoy the juiciness and tenderness and the great flavors that only U.S. beef can guarantee.”
USDA recommends cooking steak to a minimum internal temperature of 145 degrees Fahrenheit.
