NATIONAL BEEF COOK-OFF TO SHOWCASE COMPETITION

South Dakota plays host to high stakes contest

PIERRE —(May 31, 2005) Have a desire to watch 20 cooks duke it out behind a grill or stove in a competitive test of beef cooking skills? You can do just that if you attend the National Beef Cook-Off® to be held in Rapid City, S.D., this fall.

            Finalists from across the country will be descending on the state’s western metropolis to compete for the $50,000 “Best of Beef” grand prize or one of the other eight cash prizes—with a total of more than $100,000 up for grabs.

            Considered one of the three premier cooking contests in the country, the Cook-Off, held every other year, moves each time to a different city. In 2003, the 25^th anniversary of the Cook-Off, the three-day event was held in Ft. Worth, Tex. South Dakota had a tie to that event, as well, with the recipe of Chamberlain resident Kathi Anderson selected as one of the elite few chosen to participate in this grand event from the more than 2,000 entries. Again this year,  just 20 recipes have been selected out of the more than 2,200 submitted.

            The event is expected to bring approximately 300 people—beef industry representatives, national media, contestants and the curious—to Rapid City . A host steering committee comprised of members from the South Dakota CattleWomen and South Dakota Cattlemen’s Auxiliary is working closely with a committee and staff from the American National CattleWomen, Inc., in partnership with Albertsons®, to put on the national event which is funded in part through the $1-per-head beef checkoff.

            South Dakota hosts will be showing off the state through a Welcome Event at Mount Rushmore and an Industry Event at the Snyder Ranch in Sturgis. Held at the Rapid City Best Western Ramkota Hotel & Conference Center, the cooking event on Wednesday, September 21 will be open at no charge to the public. Individuals can register for this event at the door. Tickets for the other activities, including the Gala Awards Banquet where winners are announced, are also available.

For more information on the National Beef Cook-Off, go to the www.beefcookoff.org Web site, or find a link from the South Dakota Beef Industry Council Web site at www.sdbeef.org. To receive a registration form for the Cook-Off, or for more information, contact Diane Booth, P.O. Box 316 , Ridgeview, S.D. 57652, 605-733-2329, dianebooth@yahoo.com, or Karla Pazour, 25725 350^th Ave. , Pukwana, S.D. 57370, 605-894-4490, pazour@midstatesd.net . You can also print off a registration form at the www.sdbeef.org site.