NEW BROCHURE EXPANDS VEAL KNOWLEDGE AMONG FOODSERVICE INDUSTRY

CHICAGO (August 28, 1998) — Named "hotstuff" by Food Arts, a leading culinary trade magazine, veal is enjoying renewed interest among American chefs. The Veal Committee of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) is capitalizing on that trend with a new brochure entitled, "Cut School: The Foodservice Guide to Veal."

The 16-page manual shows that there’s more to veal than cutlets, medallions and chops. It provides comprehensive information and insight into veal and the veal industry for culinary school instructors and students, as well as chefs and restaurateurs, who are seeking advanced knowledge about veal.

The brochure provides an overview of veal production, creative uses of veal (including uses of underutilized cuts from the veal chuck and breast) and ways to integrate veal profitably into menus. It features detailed information about a broad range of topics concerning veal including production, the types of veal, specific cuts, cooking methods and techniques, the nutritional comparison of veal with other proteins, profitability, and food safety and storage practices involving veal.

"The Cut School Guide is designed as an advanced resource for foodservice educators and professionals who already have a basic knowledge of veal," said Bill Ehrke, a veal producer from Fort Atkinson, Wis., and chairman of the Veal Committee. "We have found that foodservice professionals are more likely to menu veal creatively when they have solid information at their fingertips."

Development of the Cut School Guide, which was first released in July, has been a joint state and national checkoff-funded effort. Seven state-level beef and veal associations funded the printing of the brochure. These associations include the Florida Beef Council, the Indiana Veal Association, the Michigan Veal Committee, the New York Beef Industry Council, the Ohio Beef Council, the Pennsylvania Beef Council and the Wisconsin Beef Council.

More than 125 chefs attending the American Culinary Federation (ACF) conference in Anaheim, Calif., in July, received copies of the guide and heard about its various features at a three-hour workshop sponsored by NCBA that focused on the "Versatility and Profitability of Veal."

Chef Edward Leonard, one of only 55 master chefs in the country, led the workshop, which included a veal cutting and cooking demonstration. An outline of the workshop program is being sent to all state veal councils to extend veal knowledge among foodservice educators and operators in their states.

"The key to this program is developing materials that meet a need in the restaurant industry and then making sure that state and national organizations are working together to distribute them," said Ehrke. "This brochure is just one of the ways the Veal Committee is working to build demand for veal during a time of high supplies and low prices."

Like beef producers, veal producers are required to contribute to the national beef and veal checkoff. Veal promotion efforts are then funded through the checkoff, which is administered by the Beef Board. This 111-member board is appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture to oversee the collection of the $1-per-head checkoff, certify state councils, implement the provisions of the Federal order establishing the checkoff and evaluate the effectiveness of checkoff programs.

-- NCBA --

Initiated in 1898, NCBA is the marketing organization and trade association for America’s one million cattle farmers and ranchers. With offices in Denver, Chicago and Washington D.C., NCBA is a consumer-focused, producer-directed organization representing the largest segment of the nation’s food and fiber industry.