The Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute launched a Swap Meat Recipe Contest in support of healthier menus across the country.
The contest calls for professional foodservice chefs to replace beef, pork, lamb, and poultry with wild, healthy, and sustainable Alaska seafood. Chefs have two months to create, test, and submit their best Swap Meat recipes for the chance to win up to $2,500.
New USDA Dietary Guidelines recommend that Americans consume at least 26 pounds of seafood annually, but the average consumer ate only 14.5 in 2013. 67 percent of seafood was consumed outside the home, presenting an opportunity for chefs to menu even more seafood.
“We developed the Swap Meat Recipe Contest to encourage chefs to offer more seafood, and to make it more accessible and irresistible to customers,” says Claudia Hogue, foodservice director of the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute. “Chefs can use their incredible influence to educate consumers and help them make healthier decisions that are also good for the planet.”
Seafood, specifically wild-caught, has a low impact on the environment in comparison with beef, pork, lamb, or poultry. Through the Swap Meat Recipe Contest chefs can bring classic, meat-based favorites to life with a sustainable twist.
Swap Meat recipes can be submitted through June 1, 2015. To enter, professional foodservice chefs simply identify a traditional meat dish that is already on their menu, or develop an original recipe, and swap out the protein with one of Alaska’s species of seafood, including varieties of salmon, whitefish, and shellfish.
Each submission will be evaluated based on creativity, accuracy/methodology, and applicability on restaurant menus. Winning dishes will be selected based on flavor, creativity, and visual appeal.
