You may not be familiar with Hico (pronounced “high-coe”), the tiny picturesque city in Hamilton County in Central Texas. But Hico is known mainly for its annual Texas Steak Cookoff. The two-day festival boasts, ‘Of course Texans cook the best steaks, but… who cooks the best steaks in Texas?’ and aims to allow visitors to be the judge.

Recently, the Texas Steak Cookoff Board has awarded the College of Agriculture and Human Sciences $2500 in scholarship money. The funds were awarded after our new Meats Lab team participated in this year’s cookoff.

On May 21st, PVAMU CAHS’ Meat Science Center Director Lea Ann Kinman, Ph.D., Research Technician James Smith, and Professor Tamra Tolen, Ph.D., traveled three hours to Hico to participate in the annual event.

The trio went not to taste but to cut almost 3300 ribeye steaks used for the cookoff, which took about seven hours! In addition to this unique experience, they also met with Hico Mayor Edward Needham and enjoyed the cookoff for themselves, sampling appetizers and steaks cooked by the competitors.

As if the experience, food, and festivities weren’t enough, they now have funds that will be awarded to students who work at the meat science center or want to pursue a career in the meat industry. It’s probably safe to bet that the trio plan to make Hico’s Original Texas Steak Cookoff an annual summer pilgrimage.

For more information about this article, please contact Lea Ann Kinman, Ph.D. 936-261-5053, lakinman@pvamu.edu.

Tucker Wilson
Assistant Dir., IIC
tuwilson@pvamu.edu