DeWinton-based CattleBoyZ took home two awards at Zest Fest in Dallas, Texas last month with its newest flavour barbecue sauce, Chipotle Maple Bacon. The saucy creation won the Golden Chile Award and second place in the Best New Product Cook-off category at the Jan. 24 to 26 event.
It’s a big achievement to take top prize in the Lone-Star State.
“Texas is the heart of barbecue country,” says Joe Ternes, CattleBoyz Food Ltd. president. “There are so many products down there that if you can rank or score well down there, it’s a feather in the hat.”
The new Chipotle Maple Bacon flavour was released in the fall of 2013, to complement the CattleBoyZ additional four sauce flavors and four seasonings. The new barbecue sauce is gluten-free, fat-free, with simple ingredients that include chipotle, maple and bacon.
“I think the three key ingredients are very popular right now,” Ternes says. “The chipotle has been a leader in providing heat and smoky finish or flavour.”
The contest included a blind tasting and a cook-off, where a variety of dishes were cooked with the sauces for a panel of judges to see how each responded with added heat.
“With sauces, tasting it out of the bottle and tasting it after it has seen some open flame, changes it dramatically,” Ternes says.
The CattleBoyZ product line includes four sauces and four rubs. The barbecue sauce base is tomato paste with garlic, black pepper, vinegar, molasses and some secret ingredients, Ternes adds. CattleBoyZ Original sauce has won over 25 awards, and was the sauce that started it all 16 years ago.
“It was originally used for beef ribs,” Ternes says. “The original recipe was heavy in vinegar which helped break down the beef ribs. It was very good for ribs, but it was a little overpowering for steak and chicken. We toned down the vinegar and made some adjustments to it, so it’s more versatile.”
Since then, CattleBoyZ sauces have been a steady fixture in Safeway, Costco, and Co-op for years. As well, as on barbecues in Okotoks and the foothills for over a decade.
“They’re a little bit in between a traditional barbecue sauce and a glaze,” Ternes says. “The product doesn’t burn as easy as the real tomato-paste based products. CattleBoyZ is a little more lenient on red meats. That’s where ours shines, it’s able to handle more heat.”
The new Chipotle Maple Bacon sauce goes well on the barbecue, on chicken, grilled vegetables, beef, salmon and pork, he said. The award-winning sauce has a higher percentage of tomato base compared to the Original, and doesn’t handle heat as well as the original sauce, but it’s a fabulous flavour profile made with high-quality ingredients, he explained.
The sauce is different that other tomato-based barbecue sauces, as it’s also good as a glaze.
“It’ll seal the product and keep the juices inside, almost self-basting,” Ternes says. “It’s really noticeable when you’re doing baby back ribs, because a layer of sauce early into the cooking cycle won’t have a tendency to dry out on you.”
The CattleBoyZ Chipotle Maple Bacon barbecue sauce is available at Hirsche Fraser, while other products are available at Costco, Safeway, Sobeys, Save On Foods, Loblaws, Superstore, Canadian Tire, and online at www.cattleboyz.com. Ternes says they sell the sauce across North America, into Mexico and are currently looking into a new market in the United Kingdom.
A portion of the proceeds of this award-winning signature sauce will to go raise awareness and support ALS research.
**Article from Okotoks Whestern Wheel**