Viking, The Catfish Institute host lunch for top NYC chef

JACKSON, Miss. – The Catfish Institute (TCI) and Viking Range Corporation partnership again proved to be a successful match as the pair teamed up to entertain New York chef and author David Pasternak in a lunch recently at the Viking Cooking School in Greenwood, Mississippi.

Pasternak, winner of the 2004 James Beard Foundation/American Express Best Chef: New York City award, and Ed Levine, co-author of their new book  The Young Man and the Sea, were served an impressive presentation of “Paper Sack Catfish,” a special U.S. Farm-Raised Catfish recipe by Viking’s executive chef Martha Foose.

We are honored to have had a chef of this caliber to experience firsthand what U.S. Farm-Raised Catfish is all about.
Roger Barlow, president of The Catfish Institute, said, “TCI’s partnership with Viking allowed us to introduce catfish to Chef Pasternack, who otherwise might never have heard about, or tasted, the South’s favorite fish.  We are honored to have had a chef of this caliber to experience firsthand what U.S. Farm-Raised Catfish is all about.”

At the lunch both Foose and Jeremy Robbins, TCI marketing representative, drew the guests’ attention to the importance of choosing only U.S. Farm-Raised Catfish.  U.S. Farm-Raised Catfish has proven to be the safe alternative to foreign imports.

The pair also highlighted catfish as a sustainable, non-polluting protein source, which is becoming increasingly important to restaurant and home chefs alike. Other discussion points included the versatility of U.S. Farm-Raised Catfish and the high quality standards under which the catfish are raised.

Additionally, the choice to serve U.S. Farm-Raised Catfish was only fitting, as Pasternack is a true fisherman and award-winning chef of Esca, an NYC Italian seafood restaurant at which Pasternack is executive chef and business partner to Food Network star, Mario Batali.  “Esca” means “bait” in Italian.

The catfish lunch also allowed Pasternack and Levine to take a break from weekend-long events such as a Pasternack-led “Recipes and Crispy Fish Tales” cooking class at the Viking Cooking School and a signing of Pasternack and Lavine’s new cookbook at Turn Row Book Company, also in Greenwood.

Foose’s recipe “Paper Sack Catfish,” will be included in her new cookbook, Screen Doors and Sweet Tea, set to be published in spring of 2008.

For more information about U.S. Farm-Raised Catfish, The Catfish Institute or catfish recipes by chef Martha Foose, please visit www.uscatfish.com.

The Catfish Institute was founded in 1986 by catfish feed mills and their producer members with the goal of raising consumer awareness about the benefits of U.S. Farm-Raised Catfish. Today TCI, which represents catfish feed mills in Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas and Louisiana, conducts promotional programs throughout the United States and Canada.