Ray Williams of Los Alamos was part of the team that that went to Paris to compete in the ‘Olympics of Meat’
Williams, one of the members along with five others on the Butchers of America’s Team USA, returned from the World Butchers’ Challenge (the “Olympics of Meat”), which was held in Paris at the end of March, with two first-place medals.
Butchers of America is a team of butchers that was assembled primarily to compete in the World Butcher Challenge (WBC), which started approximately 20 years ago between Australia and New Zealand. Over the years, the competition grew to incorporate teams from many other countries. Eighteen countries participated in this year’s challenge.
“The hosting country, France, won all of the team categories,” Williams said. “We won best gourmet sausage and best beef sausage and tied for best chicken product and best lamb product. These categories are blind tastings, so the judges didn’t know which country made them. Winning in two sausage categories against countries that have been making sausages for 3,000 years was thrilling.”
Williams flew to Paris a few days before the event, which was fortuitous, as there were several incidents the team had to deal with before the competition started.
“My wife and some friends (the ‘rice guys’) flew out of LAX to Paris a few days before the event,” he said. “The three days before the competition were hectic. We had to shop for equipment, produce, and odds and ends we needed, so there was no time for sightseeing until after the competition.”
An unforeseen problem complicated things for the U.S. team.
“The day before the event, we found out that the supplies that the French were supposed to provide us weren’t on the truck, so we sent two team members scrambling around Paris to find what we needed while the rest of the team prepared everything else before the challenge began,” Williams said. “While the two team members were scrambling to get the supplies, the French informed us that they had found our provisions. Since we had already purchased all that was needed, we told them we didn’t need their supplies, and they were more than a little annoyed.”
The first day of the competition was focused on the “Young Butchers” challenge.
“We had two Americans in the ‘Young Butchers’ section of the competition, which was held on the first day, March 30,” Williams said. “I’m very proud of Sierra Jepsen and Cora Gains for the excellent job they did representing the United States.”
The following day was the “World Butchers’ Challenge.”
“Over 7,000 spectators attended the event, with more than 50 Americans in the stands cheering us on,” Williams said. “Each country was introduced, and the crowds went crazy. It was like being center stage at a major athletic or entertainment event. It was wild and noisy and exciting.”
Williams explained the format of the competition. “Every country had their own table, and we had three and a half hours to break down half a cow, half a pig, a whole lamb, and five chickens, and make sausages, and ground products, then display them in a visually artistic manner,” he said. “Every item had to be processed and displayed with a detailed recipe on how to cook it.
“Every five minutes a new judge walked around checking for safety, sanitation, teamwork, proper use of the equipment, and our final display. It’s stressful being under the watchful eye of every judge, but when they change every five minutes, it’s a high-pressure environment.”
Because Williams is hard of hearing, he wore a state-of-the-art communication system that allowed him to hear his captain and focus on what he needed to do.
“One point of interest was that the captain of our team furnished me with a special microphone that linked directly to my hearing aids, which was great,” he said. “I could just concentrate on what I was doing and not be distracted by the crowd.”
Soon enough, it was time for the teams to put their cuts on display.
“After processing all the meat, we set up our display table, and each of the judges made their final judgement on each table. At the end of the competition, each country picked their best product in each category, which was then given to a French chef with a detailed recipe to prepare and then judged for taste,” he explained. “We knew we had the possibility of winning the best chicken product, which was boneless stuffed chicken wings. We tied for our chicken and our lamb and received two trophies for the sausages and bragging rights.”
Williams said that most of the team members headed back to the U.S. right after the event, but he spent 10 days sightseeing in Paris with his wife and kids and his mother, Shirley. His mother and kids returned to the U.S. while he and his wife continued vacationing for five days in Spain and five days in Ireland.
“Being a part of the World Butchers’ Challenge was definitely one of the highlights of my life, and I can hang my hat on that,” said Williams.
“I’m very proud of the Butchers of America’s Team USA, Etana Diaz, Nathan Bingham, Mitch Willis, Mark Madden, Ganny Johnson, Paul Carras, and Troy Morgan, for representing the United States and the craft of butchery,” said Williams. “I wouldn’t mind being a part of the World Butchers’ Challenge one more time. It was great!”
The award-winning sausages are available for purchase at Los Alamos Market in the meat department.
