At the beginning of last month (4th of July actually) I got to sit in for a second year in a row as a consumer judge at World Steak Challenge, where three dozen or so expert judges convened to test and rate close to sirloin, fillet and rib eye steaks from 22 different countries and four continents.
What a savoury opportunity! I was deeply impressed by how much better and more broadly representative of the world the steaks that made it to the final round (when the consumer judging came in) were compared to last year. And last year was by no means a shabby affair!
Held at the Magic Roundabout on Old Street, this was the fourth year WSC presented producers, suppliers, farmers and processors with a chance “to compete on an international level with their steaks.” Entrants first submit their cuts to be judged by a panel of meat scientists, chefs, butchers and farmers. Then, the best of those are awarded Gold Medal status from the technical judging stage to go through to the second and final round with a panel of consumer judges comprised of food writers, chefs, and professionals working in the meat industry such as this year’s chair of judges, South African master butcher Alan Franck of Haywards Butchers in Tonbridge, Kent.
Overall best winning steak was a grass fed Ayrshire sirloin reared in Finland and produced by JN Meat International. The cut was awarded Best Grass Fed and Best Sirloin medals. JN Meat International also won Best Rib Eye for its grass-fed Ayrshire.
Other category winners included ABP Poland (2017’s overall winner) for Best Fillet with a grain fed Simmental Cross; and German company OSI International Holdings for Best Grain Fed with a rib eye Angus
Further details about winners and all Gold Medal recipients can be found at worldsteakchallenge.com/2018-winners.
The Magic Roundabout is located at Old Street Roundabout, EC1Y 1BE.
