(lubavitch.com/lns) As 20,000 Uruguayans participated Sunday in their country’s record breaking barbeque, Chabad-Lubavitch gave many of them a first exposure to kosher meat.

Uruguay set a new Guiness world record for the largest barbeque ever, as some 1250 chefs grilled 26,400 pounds of beef on a grill running almost a mile long.

Director of Chabad activities in Uruguay, Rabbi Eliezer Shemtov, saw it as an ideal opportunity to educate Uruguayans about kashrut, and promote kosher consumption among its Jewish population.

Accompanied by the Israeli Ambassador to Uruguay, Mr. Yoel Barnea, and Rabbi Abraham Hager, a rabbinic authority who oversees the kashrut operations in Uruguay for the Israeli Chief Rabbinate, Rabbi Shemtov had first use of the brand new grill for a kosher beef steak.

The non-kosher meat was put on the grill on after the kosher steak was removed.

“In effect, the entire event was inaugurated by a kosher piece of Uruguayan meat,” says Rabbi Shemtov.

A booth set up by the Chabad Center, with an ongoing kosher barbeque and informative literature, drew thousands of curious participants wanting to learn more about the difference between kosher and non-kosher meat.

Uruguay is a major meat exporter, and is one of the largest providers of meat to the U.S. and Israeli kosher markets.