For the first time in its five year history, World Steak Challenge held its annual competition outside of London.
The 2019 event to determine the World’s Best Sirloin, World’s Best Rib Eye and World’s Best Fillet and to reward the producers of those cuts for a delicious job well done (or ideally medium-rare I suppose) was in Dublin. Celebrated Fire Restaurant and Lounge was a most accommodating host venue for all the judging of more than 300 cuts of steak from 25 countries.
What a juicy opportunity it was for me to return to the table as a consumer judge in a new city! I was honoured to get invited back for the chance to taste – and critique – some of the world’s best steaks.
Over the past year or so, I have cut back considerably on my consumption of meat. I sometimes go days without eating meat and without even noticing that I’m not eating meat. There are some health, environmental and ethical reasons behind my new dietary pattern. But in all honesty it’s got more to do with my good fortune. As a blogger/journalist/food and travel writer, I have enjoyed some extremely tasty meat over the years. The less than quality stuff just doesn’t do it for me anymore. So why bother.
An excellent example of enjoying extremely tasty meat has been my involvement as a consumer judge for World Steak Challenge. I’ve done it three years now – most recently at the beginning of this month when WSC took place in Dublin. As a consumer judge, I had the succulent task of helping suss out the very best of the best.
From the hundreds of entries that had gone through a full day of judging by top butchers, scientists, industry experts and food writers from across the globe, the highest rated of those entries made it to the consumer judges for a final marks. Not a bad gig at all but somewhat daunting: sampled about 20 or so of such perfectly reared beef took some stamina especially while keeping track of my notes for the judging.
My time in Ireland as a judge included a tour arranged by Bord Bia (the Irish Food Board) to the countryside to visit local producers: two farms, a butchery, and a brewery.
As part of a World Steak Challenge 2019 miniseries of posts, I’ll share the highlights of WSC 2019 with info about the winners, those local producers visited with Bord Bia and more about my time as a judge. Until then (and if you can’t wait to read about the winners), check out this video by World Steak Challenge.
Visit worldsteakchallenge.com for details about the competition.
For more about Bord Bia go to bordbia.ie.
Fire Restaurant and Lounge is located at The Mansion House, Dawson Street, Dublin 2, Ireland. Find out more at firerestaurant.ie.
