Mussels Match Up Chef Competition At The International Restaurant & Foodservice Show Of New York

The Canadian mussel industry is hosting the first ever chef's competition featuring fresh blue mussels at the International Restaurant & Foodservice Show of New York. The Mussels Match Up Chef Competition will be on the Demonstration Stage where competitors will be judged on their creativity, taste and flavor combinations over the three days of the show. There will be US and Canadian chefs displaying their talents and vying for prizes and the chance to become the Mussels Match Up Chef of the Year.

This popular shellfish is not only highly versatile, but it's also among the tastiest, nutritious and affordable seafood. Canadian mussels are rope grown and are recognized world-wide as sustainable seafood. They are farmed in the pristine clean waters of east coast Canada (Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland). The mussel industry continues to grow at a rapid pace, as the overall consumption of mussels in 2010 has increased by 20 percent from the previous year. Click here for more information on mussels.

The competition schedule will run from 10:30 am to 12:30 pm on Sunday, February 27; and 3:00 pm to 4:15 pm on Monday, February 28; with the finalist competition presentations at 12:45 on Tuesday, March 1st. The Mussels Match up Chef of the Year will be announced at 1:30 pm. The winner will receive a trip for two to Atlantic Canada valued at $10,000 in September, 2011. The land portion of the trip will be escorted; including a special visit to a working mussel farm in Prince Edward Island and the chef featured at a food festival.

Participants must have completed the necessary apprenticeship program identified by their state or national chef association and must be 18 years of older. Click here for entry and official contest rules.