Canadians received a People’s Choice award after competing in the World Butchers’ Challenge in Sacramento, California
Canadian butchers who competed for the first time ever as a national team in what has been called the Olympics of meat earned an unofficial People’s Choice award from the event’s organizers.
“We didn’t do as well as we’d hoped, but I mean, you know what? It was fun just being there,” said team member Corey Meyer of Edmonton.
He took part in the World Butchers’ Challenge, which was held Sept. 3 before more than 1,000 spectators in Sacramento, California.
“And that’s the thing that was really cool — it was at the Golden 1 Center where the Sacramento Kings of the NBA play, and so we got to be in their locker room and stuff.”
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Although the competition is normally held every two years, it was cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This year’s event included 13 teams from Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Portugal, the United States and Wales.
The faces of each butcher were displayed overhead on the electronic scoreboard as they were introduced by an announcer during their initial walk across the arena floor to their positions, said Meyer.
“It was, like I say, like being a rock star.”
The Canadian team consisted of butchers from across the country. Besides Meyer, they included team captain Peter Baarda of Burlington, Ont., as well as Elyse Chatterton of Edmonton, Taryn Barker of Vancouver, Brent Herrington of Port Perry, Ont., Damian Goriup of Oakville, Ont., and Dave Vander Velde (alternate) of Stoney Creek, Ont.
Meanwhile, Doug Easterbrook of Simcoe, Ont., and Ronnie Keely of Kamloops, B.C., took part in the World Champion Young Butcher Competition portion of the event Sept. 2.
Each team in the main event Sept. 3 was given a side of beef, a side of pork, a whole lamb and five chickens. They had three-and-a-half hours to transform the carcasses into a themed display of value-added products, said a statement by the organizers.
“Teams are allowed to provide their own seasonings, spices, marinades and garnish to finish products that are designed to inspire and push the boundaries, yet which are also cookable and would sell in a retail setting. Independent judges score each team based on technique and skill, workmanship, product innovation, overall finish and presentation.”
Contingents of supporters cheered on the butchers, said Meyer.
“They shouted and hooted and hollered and sang and everything. It was pretty surreal … because you go to a hockey game and it’s like that, but to actually be on the floor and have them cheering for you? It was something else.”
Such attention doesn’t usually happen to a third-generation butcher from Edmonton, said Meyer, who works at the city’s Acme Meat Market. The World Butchers’ Challenge is meant to promote skills that have faded in much of Canada since the advent of large grocery store chains and the demise of small, family-run butcher shops.
It highlights what can be done with the locally raised meat provided by farmers and ranchers, especially smaller producers, said Meyer. It encourages support from consumers at a time when interest in where their food comes from has been heightened by the pandemic, he added.
It also shows the culinary world, “and maybe young people that are thinking of a career, ‘hey, if you want to be in the food industry, it’s not just about being a chef. Check out butchery’.”
After forming in 2019, the Canadian team spent years practising for the competition despite interruptions caused by the pandemic. They met as often as every two months in provinces such as Ontario to work together for up to three days at a time, with expenses such as flights collectively costing the team as much as $15,000 per practice, said Meyer.
They decided to showcase Canadian cuisine by including the ingredients for specialties such as Jiggs dinner, which is a Newfoundland dish made of beef, cabbage, potatoes, carrots, turnips and greens.
“We cut up the meat and put it in a big cauldron almost, with the vegetables and stuff kind of shoved in the sides to make it visually appealing, and so it was presented that way.”
Unfortunately, such touches of Canadiana puzzled the judges, said Meyer.
“And afterwards, some of the judges told us it was a beautiful display, ‘but we don’t know what Canadiana is,’ and instead of giving us full marks for what we tried to make it, they didn’t really know what it was, so they can only give partial marks.”
The team also had a “mindset of every single cut that we put out has to be fancy and really done up to the nines,” he said.
However, he noticed other countries were more time efficient because they only did a few things from each protein “really grand” while keeping other things basic and simple.
The Canadians placed 11th, with the Butcher Wolfpack Team Germany winning the top Friedr. Dick Golden Knife Trophy, said Meyer.
“The guys and gals on the other teams, they were all very impressed with how well we did considering it was our first time.”
