The self-proclaimed 'worst vegetarian restaurant' in Brisbane, the Norman Hotel is again hosting the popular Norman's Best Breed competition, this year, with a distinct Queensland-centric focus at its core.
The concept for the competition was created by the Norman Hotel says executive chef Frank Correnti.
"While there are many beef judging competitions which focus on the different brands, there was never anything which focused purely on the different breeds and their flavour and tenderness profiles," Mr Correnti said.
He said the Norman Hotel has been promoting the competition since 2015.
"We're fortunate enough to have such a close relationship with JBS that we've been able to grow the competition from strength to strength," he said.
There are four breeds invited to take part in the competition and this year the Droughtmaster, Brahman, Charbray and Santa Gertrudis breeds are battling it out.
"JBS has hand-chosen the cattle to represent the four breeds from their Mungindi feedlot in the Western Darling Downs region.
"All cattle have been on 120 days feed."
Mr Correnti said the Norman Hotel purchases only striploin for the competition.
"This is done to create a level field in regards to the cooking and serving of the steak.
"I'm cooking all the steaks to medium rare and serving a slice of each breed together on one plate for the customer.
"In total the customer receive approximately 100gm of each breed."
Customers involved in the competition can fill out a form rating the flavour, tenderness and overall like for each breed.
Each breed is judged on a scale of one to 10. The staff at the Norman Hotel will collate the total score and the breed with the most points will be deemed Norman's Best Breed.
The competition began on July 29 and will run through until the end of August.
Mr Correnti said the winning breed will be featured as a standalone steak for the month of September.
"The winning breeds' society is also presented with a trophy at a luncheon at the Norman Hotel to celebrate the breeds achievement."
Previous winners of the competition were as follows:
- 2015 Brahman
- 2016 Shorthorn
- 2017 Shorthorn
- 2018 Charbray