Fun Fearless Foodie

Photo courtesy Lou Castenada

Dubbed the “Woodstock of Meat”, Meatopia BBQ NYC held it’s first annual event on the historic compound at Governor’s Island this past Sunday and showcased all the wonderful ways meat can be enjoyed.  30 chef’s and restaurants were represented at Meatopia, serving up tastings featuring a variety of meats like beef, lamb, chicken, and pork prepared in their own unique style.  The inaugural event hosted by James Beard award-winning author Josh Ozersky and Taste of Tribecca and Good Beer Month founder Jimmy Carbone brought in over 4, 500 hungry, meat-loving New Yorker’s and satisfied on so many levels.

I had the pleasure of getting involved with the hardworking Meatopia gang and was tasked with coordinating one of the featured events of the day, a celebrity chef cook-off featuring Meatopia sponsor High Plains Bison (HPB). Chef Andrew D’Ambrosi of Top Chef Chicago fame went up against Michelin Star Chef Shaun Hergatt, owner of SHO Shaun Hergatt in the Financial District, in battle bison.  Each chef had 3o minutes to prepare a dish featuring a bison meat filet in their own signature style.  As the crowd gathered at the HPB tent, MC Matt Timms quizzed the chef’s on their techniques, strategy, and gave a play by play of how the dishes were coming together.

When the clock ran out it was “utensils down” and each chef displayed their dish to the panel of judges tasked with choosing the dish that best featured the main ingredient.  Chef Shaun was up first and served a sophisticated and refined seared bison filet with grilled scallions and black truffle puree, with a shaved black truffle to garnish.  Both myself and the judges thought the dish would be too overpowered with the truffles, but it was surprisingly smooth and paired nicely with the bison.  Chef Andrew followed up with his latin-inspired dish of pan seared bison topped with a chimichurri sauce and a plantain and bacon mufongo cooked in duck fat. This dish was bursting with flavor and the richness of the mufongo balanced out the leanness of the bison meat.

The judges had a tough time deliberating, but in the end it came down to the dish that showed off the bison meat to the fullest while maximizing flavor, handing the winning title over to Chef Andrew and his latin bison dish.  While Chef Shaun’s dish was delicious and executed perfectly, those luxurious truffles took away the attention from the bison with their distinct flavor.  Both chef’s were great competitors and had a lot of fun with the challenge, answering questions from the audience and sharing their thoughts on cooking with bison.

This was actually my first experience trying bison meat and I was really surprised by not only the flavor, but the texture.  It looks and tastes a lot like beef, but it’s leaner and has a lighter texture.  HPB was a great sponsor and the crowd lined up all afternoon to try samples of bison filet topped with fresh kimchi salsa from Mama O’s.  It was fun to watch everyone’s reaction as they too tried bison for the first time and realized it was a delicious cut of meat.  Bison meat is naturally low in saturated fat and is a healthier alternative to beef, plus it has a higher protein content.  HPB meat is naturally raised, the bison roam free and graze on all natural vegetation and they are never treated with hormones or antibiotics.  While not easily found in your local grocer, at least on the east coast, you can order a variety of bison cuts from HPB directly from their consumer website at www.highplainsbison.com.

I recruited some fellow FCI classmates to help me out at the event and my friend and photographer Lou Castenada brought his camera and took some great shots of the cook-off.  Check out his photo’s below and see how it all came together.