The ‘Olympics of Meat’ comes to Sacramento: World-class butchers to compete at Golden 1

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The “Olympics of Meat” are coming to Sacramento this weekend. Instead of javelins and track spikes, competitors will be armed with cleavers and butcher’s knives.

Golden 1 Center will host the 2022 World Butchers’ Challenge on Friday and Saturday, a competition between top meat men and women from 13 countries. That includes a pair of hometown heroes whose past work with Team USA helped bring the biggest show in butchery to Sacramento over Paris and Sao Paolo.

Taylor’s Market owner Danny Johnson and manager Paul Carras are back on Team USA for another go against butchers from Iceland, Portugal, New Zealand and more. Johnson captained the first American team during 2018 showdown in Belfast, and persuaded Visit Sacramento to apply for hosting duties in 2020 before the competition was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Independent butcher shops folded across the United States as supermarkets boomed in the late 20th century, but a resurgence of interest in the craft over the last decade or so has driven customers to specialty shops. The Sacramento region is home to several — the 76-year-old Roseville Meat Co., for example, or new-school V. Miller Meats in East Sacramento. Hosting the competition takes another step in establishing the city as a butchery hotspot.

“For me, Sacramento was a great city to host the next World Butchers’ Challenge noting the powerful alignment with our Farm-to-Fork ethos and the opportunity to use Taylor’s Market as the headquarters for the Butchers of America team,” Johnson wrote in an email. “We pitched this to (CEO and president) Mike Testa at Visit Sacramento and here we are!”

The contest tasks each six-person team with breaking down a side of beef, a side of pork, a whole lamb and five chickens within three-and-a-half hours. The animals are transformed into a themed display of cookable “value-added products” that would sell in a butcher shop. Teams can spruce up their creations with personal spices, marinades, seasonings and garnishes to impress a panel of independent judges.

The World Champion Young Butcher & Butcher Apprentice competition begins at 8:30 a.m., followed by the main challenge at 10 a.m. Saturday. General admission tickets are available for $15.24 plus fees on Ticketmaster.

What I’m Eating

Past Woodland’s downtown historic buildings, Pupusería La Chicana slings Salvadoran and Mexican specialties out of a former Taco Bell in a dimly-lit shopping center. The standalone restaurant at 25 Purity Plaza is the definition of informal — think counter service, plastic trays and a complimentary appetizer of refried beans over tortilla chips on a plastic plate.

One must sample a few pupusas ($3.90), obviously. Pupusería La Chicana listed more than 20 varieties of the Salvadoran staple on a handwritten menu, their masa shells filled with goodies such as tripe, shrimp or squash blossom (all frequently accompanied by melted cheese). Fill yours with chipilín, an herb from the Mexican state of Chiapas rarely seen at other area pupuserías, to cut through the cheese and masa with some light bitterness similar to stewed tea leaves.

A pupusa comes with the especial plato Salvadoreño ($11). That plate also has the Salvadoran slaw curtido, a pastelito (a hand pie stuffed with carrots, beef and potatoes) and crispy-outside, fluffy-inside yucca fries that were the best I’ve had in a long time. A sweet plantain empanda was the plate’s highlight, though, made with condensed milk and rolled in cinnamon to taste like a Salvadoran riff on apple pie.

The torta Cubana ($9) was a fun variation on a well-established sandwich, featuring the traditional ham and cheese but also adobada, carne asada, mayonnaise, pickled jalapeños and a fried egg.

Nestled between a sliced bolillo roll, it had the two main elements of a Cubano but much more divergent flavors. I particularly liked the pickled jalapeños in lieu of sliced pickles. The fried egg added a new layer of richness.

Openings & Closings

• The Allspicery is staying open! A mystery buyer has stepped up after owner Heather Wong announced last month that she’d close her downtown spice shop unless someone took it over. Sacramento Bee reporter Noor Adatia has more details.
• Bibi’s Mexican Grill opened its first brick-and-mortar location Saturday at 2220 Gold Springs Court, Suite 102 in Gold River. Loyal customers have been eating the Romero family’s tacos dorados, al pastor quesadillas and carne asada burritos since the concept first opened as Bibi’s Enchilada & Grill food truck in December 2020.
• “The Big Bang Theory” is off the air, and the Big Boba Theory is closing down after five years at 6616 Laguna Blvd., Suite 120 in Elk Grove. With owner Joseph Chin opting not to renew his lease once it expires in September, Taiwanese boba/bubble waffle chain Presotea will move in, The Bee’s Brianna Taylor reported.

This story was originally published September 2, 2022 at 5:00 AM.