Imaging U.S. Red Meat Alongside Top Restaurants at Mexico Festival
USMEF partnered with a foodservice distributor to show foodies in Mexico how to bring exceptional experiences from top restaurants into their homes. One of Mexico’s premier gastronomic festivals served as a training ground for participants through a series of masterclasses conducted by leading chefs and hosted by the U.S. pork and beef industries.
Begun 10 years ago, the Sabores Polanco Festival has become a leading gourmet food event in Mexico City, with 80 high-end restaurants and wineries serving 15,000 people over two days. Festival attendees are mainly foodies and wine lovers who are anxious to learn about new dishes.
Chef José Ron Quillo of The Palm taught masterclass participants how to prepare pork jowl tacos
“We invited chefs from six top restaurants to conduct masterclasses featuring their signature dishes,” said Rigoberto Treviño, USMEF Mexico trade manager. “Most dishes featured underutilized U.S. beef and pork cuts and participants were shown step-by-step how to recreate these special dishes at home.”
More than 300 participated at the masterclasses below:
| Chefs | Restaurants | U.S. Cuts/Items | Dishes |
| José Ron Quillo | The Palm | Pork jowl | Pork jowl tacos |
| Federico Gallo | La Matera | Pork loin | Pork cowboy |
| Miguel Hernandez | La Buena Barra | Pork belly | Pork belly |
In addition to hosting the masterclasses, USMEF provided four industry ambassadors to prepare and sample dishes for festival attendees at the U.S. red meat industry booth, including tacos, empanadas, barbacoa and chicharron.
In a festival partnership with Cerveceria Modelo, USMEF ambassadors created and sampled several beef and pork dishes that paired well with Modelo beer.
Funding support was provided by the Beef Checkoff Program, the National Pork Board and Iowa Corn Promotion Board.
Source: USMEF