The renowned grill chef Benjamín Benítez, of Asado Benítez fame, is leading a culinary tour of the United States to promote and publicise the excellent quality of Paraguayan beef.
Benítez hopes to capture the attentions and the palates of the American people with the very best cuts of Paraguayan meat.
“On April 5, we embarked for the United States to delight the people there with our exceptional beef,” said Benítez in an interview with the radio station 1020 AM.
The Griller-in-Chief will work his way up the East Coast of the USA, taking in Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Washington DC, and finishing at the Paraguayan Embassy in New York.
Benítez, with his vast experience in the art of grilling, emphasized the importance of the quality of the meat and the skill of the griller to obtain an optimal result.
“A good meat can be ruined by a bad griller, but miracles cannot be done if the meat is not of quality,” he said, adding that Paraguayan meat was the best in the world.
The trip was planned to coincide with the opening up of the beef export market, which allowed Paraguayan beef producers to sell their products in the USA for the first time in 25 years, starting in January 2024.
However, these plans were derailed in early April, when the US Senate voted to overturn the new rules, in a move many regarded as a protectionist measure designed to prop up the failing US beef industry.
Benítez now plans to take his asado roadshow to Europe, with visits to Malaga and Paris planned for May.
Paraguayan beef is well-known and highly regarded in Europe, where food safety laws are significantly more stringent than the USA. Beef products imported from the USA have been banned in Europe and the UK for many years, due to the various drugs and hormones which are injected into US cattle in an attempt to deliver higher profits.
As for the ultimate question – which cut of beef is the best for grilling – Benítez was unequivocal. “The rib”, he said.
