ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — No matter the challenge or situation, the American Angus Auxiliary has remained committed to encouraging junior Angus members to keep learning about and cooking with the Certified Angus Beef ® brand (CAB). To adapt to restrictions and recommendations set during the COVID-19 pandemic, the annual CAB Cook–Off contest was hosted online. This year, rather than the typical contest held at the National Junior Angus Show, contestants were tasked with producing a video presentation, inviting consumers to their ranch, farm, home, table, kitchen or backyard grill to tell the CAB story.
Every year the CAB Cook-Off is one of the most highly anticipated contests held at the National Junior Angus Show. Even though the contest couldn’t be held in person, the American Angus Auxiliary didn’t give up. The original Cook-Off was held to encourage the use of the CAB in dishes created by junior Angus members. This year, the virtual contest hosted nine teams consisting of NJAA members ranging from ages 8 to 21. Teams were required to submit a 10-minute video that was informative, factual, entertaining and promoted a CAB dish to consumers and home cooks.
“The main goal is to provide a venue for our junior members to learn about the Certified Angus Beef ® brand and also learn to promote it to their peers and their communities,” said Anne Lampe, Auxiliary beef education and Cook-Off co-chair. “Tradition is important to us and one of the reasons we didn’t want to drop it and pick it up again next year is because of the tradition of the Cook-Off.”
Placing first in the 2020 CAB at Home Contest was Grace, Anna and Abigail Schrader of Schrader Angus Farms in Columbia City, Indiana, with their smoked meatloaf patty melt. Click here to find their winning video. The second-place team was Ava, Lyle, Hannah and Henry Perrier of Dalebanks Angus in Eureka, Kansas, with their cowboy KC strip recipe. Their second-place video can be found here. Third place honors were awarded to Raleigh and Lilah Doerstler of Hagerstown, Indiana, for their guacamole burger. Their third-place video can be found here.
The contest was judged by a panel of CAB chefs, Chef Michael Ollier, Chef Ashley Breneman and Bryan Schaaf, Chef Liaison. The judges evaluated each entry on criteria including video creativity, the message of the Certified Angus Beef Ò brand, the recipe and appearance of the dish and the overall effect of the video. Nine teams participated from all corners of the United States.
After the success of the contest, Lampe says the new virtual format has opened the potential for more juniors to participate from across the country in the coming years. “We have so many more juniors from across the United States that I think we can reach with online contests,” Lampe said. “The Auxiliary looks forward to adding this contest in the future, in addition to the traditional contest held annually at NJAS.”
The CAB at Home Cook-Off Contest is an opportunity for all juniors to be involved in the activities without actually having to take part in the in-person contest the week of NJAS. This opportunity is educational and fun for all juniors involved and will continue to be a favorite competition.
–Karen Hiltbrand, Angus Communications
For more articles concerning the beef industry, click here.