warning! there might be food descriptions and photos which could, if you have a tender tummy, put you off your dinner.
what a night. or rather, an afternoon... it all started at 3.30 on sunday with a VIP "meet and greet" with the chefs and wine makers. (turns out anyone who wanted to pay the extra $$ for the tickets is a VIP.)
maybe i should start with a little explanation of what cochon555 is, according to their website:
COCHON 555 is a culinary event featuring five chefs, five pigs, and five wine makers in a friendly competition for a cause. In a competition like no other, five chefs are challenged to use a whole pig to create a series of dishes for an audience of epicureans, noteworthy judges and trade. Together we are saving heritage breeds through eating. Each event includes the following:
- Over 750 pounds of heritage pork
- Family-owned wineries showing their best
- Whole Pig breakdown demonstration
- “Swine and Spirits” mixologists showcase
- Meat and Greet VIP Lounge featuring artisan cheese, oysters and reserve wine
there were indeed 5 winemakers - and 1 beer brewer represented. there was also a pretty fabulous spread of various cheeses. the table was so swamped the entire time i chose to not even try to get near it for pics outside of the 'group shot' i got of the tables. i know, it's sad. the oyster table was also solidly swamped. there were 4 students or recent grads from the seattle culinary institute shucking their hearts out. it was only at the very last few that they managed to get ahead of the attendee's hunger for them. matt said he was watching them and this 1 gal accidentally dropped 1. well, she can't serve it to us now can she? what was she going to do with that lovely oyster? she ate it. and i don't blame her! about 90 minutes in someone decided to open the doors and go out on the little terrace which thankfully helped cool down the room a little as well as thin out the crowd. we chose to go out into the lobby where there were chairs. wow talk about a decibel level drop! it was so loud in there we really could hardly hear each other and weren't saying much, but hadn't realized just how loud it was until we stepped outside. a little shout out to Cafe Juanita here, we saw jason, their som, here at the event and talked to him a little bit. (click on thumbnails to view full-size image.)
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| lots and lots of glasses | view from the VIP room | Syncline Winery, Willamette Valley OR | |
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| Long Shadows, Columbia Valley WA | Dusted Valley, Walla Walla WA | Elk Cove Winery, Willamette Valley OR | Pike Brewery, have keg will travel! |
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| cheese | cheese | cheese | cheesy enough for you? |
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| 4 shuckers couldn't keep up | oyster! | one of the chefs | hot dogs! |
the big drawback, or gripe i have about the 'pre' party, aside from the fact that the room was really too small, was that it was supposed to be a meet and greet with the chefs and the wineries. we could talk to the wine people no problem - they stayed at the tables pouring their wines. but the chefs - there was no real way to distinguish them from any other person in the crowd. ok, some were wearing aprons but there was no way to know what kitchen they were with. if they were 'the top chef' or a lower chef or anything like that.
the chefs, judges, winemakers and media were allowed into the large hall before the little folk (yes, i'm one of those). i guess they had about 10 minutes to get plates to the judges and start getting ahead on presentation for us. well they really needed an hour or more for that. they were never ahead. some lines were moving so slowly because the kitchen was slower than everyone else. for me it was a crazy idea i'd be able to actually succeed at this: i was juggling a wine glass - at some point given up for a plastic water glass, plate, fork or spoon, napkin, camera, pen and notepad. i know i've missed a few things, and lots of details. if i go again, or to the 'lamb jam' (think this but for lamb) i'll see if i can figure out something better. at least my purse could be flung over the shoulder, and i left my heels at home!
the 1st table we visited belonged to anthony hubbard of chow foods. he was working with a mangalitsa. mangalitsa originated in hungary in early 1800s, and is a rare breed. it's known for its high-quality lard-type fat and its high percentage of marbling, which doubles that of average pork.
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| Anthony Hubbard, CHOW | menu 1 | menu 2 | the cider |
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| brioche | cupcake | rillette | mazafegati |
there was something here that we didn't get to try but i don't remember what it was (and i didn't get a pic as there were none). the cupcakes were plain cupcakes. they had put a dallop of lard icing on top but i didn't think it really enhanced. maybe they used the lard instead of butter or shortening in the cake but they didn't say. the cider was great. the pork flavor was very subtle which i'm not sure was intentional or not.
our 2nd table was adam stevenson of earth and ocean who worked with Berkshire/Duroc pigs. the berkshire/duroc is a favorite with chefs because of its intramuscular marbling and thick, delicious fat cap. durocs known for sweet meat, amazing shoulders and spareribs. succulent roast flavor overall when crossed.
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| Adam Stevenson, Earth and Ocean | cooking the curry | curry with liver, belly and blood | brain in pasta and dashi |
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| tenderloin rolled into belly with porcini and tuna aioli | bacon apple ice cream cone | wrapper | candy bar |
the pasta dashi thing was pretty good. in fact it would probably have been great if it had been hot. by the time i got mine, and had moved out of the line the dashi was already cold and the 'ravioli' was tepid. i learned afterwards it was filled with brain. probably a good thing, that! lol. the curry stew didn't do it for me. i tried some of all but the liver was just not enjoyed by me but matt liked it more than he thought he would. the tenderloin was pretty good.
the 3rd table was matt's in the market with chester gerl cooking up a red wattle. this pig gets its name from its red color and the wattles that hang under its chin. the meat is a little darker and is very tender, known for the wonderful hams and sirloing steaks.
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| chester gerl, Matt's in the Market | posole | cochinta pibil grilled nopales salsa | pork liver pate |
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| "head" chorizo | ahogada with carnitas | rilletos | porkorn |
the posole was hot. and they told us to be careful because it was hot. i liked that! and the popcorn, i mean porkorn on top was genius! matt and i agree this was 2 thumbs up. i didn't get to try the pate or chorizo. the ahogadas i enjoyed more than i thought i might, and if the cochintas matched up with the correct photo they were excellent! also not sure i have the rilletos with the correct photo. perhaps i missed one.
the 4th table was john sunderstrom of lark. we'd eaten at his place so we knew what he was capable of, and he was using a berkshire pig. originating from britain, berkshire is the most popular of the heritage breeds. known as 'kurobuta' in japan, and because of it's intramuscular marbling, the breed yields a brighter pork with a thick delicious fat cap. the meat is sweet and creamy.
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| john sunderstrom, Lark | doped empanadas, 12-hr beer roasted pork shoulder, olives, raisins and injected with pork love Skippy | pork belly tarte tatin, soy ginger caramel, habanero vanilla, pineapple relish | argentine choripan, grilled garlic and pimenton chorizo with french bread and chimichurri |
when we were at lark we had a pineapple tarte tartin - basically this same thing minus the pork. so of course i liked it! they were out of the choripan so i didn't get to try it. the empanada had a good flavor - in the filling. the dough was really heavy and for had a flavor that did not enhance the filling.
and the last table was tamara murphy productions cutting up a tamworth pig. the tamworth disposition is very rugged, thrifty and active. known for its ample belly "aka the best bacon hog', the tamworth displays a firm trim jowl and underline with muscular hams. smaller in comparison, the tamworth has a reddish coat, muscular top and rounded back.
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| Tamara Murphy and Zephyr Paquette | menu 1 | menu 2 | hot dog only it was more like a pork braut with mustard |
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| Chile Verde | pork turine on profiterol | chorizo burger | cookie |
we got the last hot dog - which was cold. the cookie was ok. no idea what or where the ice cream sammiches were, they were out of the burger by the time we reached the table and matt's mom has nothing to be worried about - her chile verde was superior to tamara's.
on 1 end of the room they set up a demonstration table where they brought out a pig to be butchered. don't worry, it was already dead. sadly i oculdn't watch the entire thing or i wouldn't have gotten 1/2 the food i did. but i did manage to wander over and back again to snap some pics.
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| ryan farr, Tails and Trotters | preparing the pig | oink | separated |
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| cut to pieces | that's a hacksaw he's using | 2 heads are better than 1 | ribs/chops |
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| taking the spine out | hatchet | pork rinds! |
i've tried to match up the pics to the menu items but i probably messed up a few. especially as almost every table ran out of at least 1 item before we got to it! so again i say to the chefs who attend in the future: put a sign up at each plate! it really isn't so hard.
My favorite dish? i would have to say the posole from matt's in the market tied with lark's pork belly tarte tartin. the 16hr baked pork on chip from matt's in the market was probably 2nd place. 3rd place? would you believe the little pork hot dogs that were served in the meet and greet?
what would i have done differently? and maybe the organizers thought of this but for whatever reason they scratched it off the list of possibilities. get bigger rooms for both events. or get an even larger room and do it all in 1 place. for the former, do basically how you did the 1st as you did this year, but the 2nd more along the lines of my latter idea. if the latter, set up the wine and cheese tables along the walls as you did this year, only with the tables in the room it allows guests to actually *sit down* if they want or need to. the larger room will disperse the sound more so it won't be deafening in there. and tables will allow guests to put down coats or bags if they want.
you had a big screen set up, and you had cameras on the pig demonstration but did you make the most of it? no! why didn't you send the video feed from the demonstration table to the big screen so people could actually watch it? they way you had it set up was a person had to choose: watch the pig demo or get food. i noticed ryan was talking to the crowd. you couldn't hear one word he was saying. put a mic on him! this could be set up along 1 wall of the large room (big screens around the room so everyone can watch if they want).
i'm sure it was standing room event so you could sell as many tickets as possible, but you're still subject to the fire code. so get a bigger room. AND tell the chefs they need to prepare at least x number of plates for each preparation they make so no one has to leave and not have tried something. and make sure the quantity required is more than the number of tickets sold. in fact, why not let the chefs bring out a tray with 1 of each and actually tell us what they did, what went into the dish etc? servers (ok, small cost here on top of everything else that's basically using the same thing you had this year) brings out 1 platter per person with 1 of each item on it. every chef gets to do the same thing. everyone can sit and enjoy everything. they get to hear about it. they get to all watch the demonstration that now can be seen WHILE people are eating, not instead of! if you want a meet and greet, have the chefs behind tables like the wine makers so everyone can tell who is and what kitchen they're with. plating happens behind the scenes while all this is happening so nothing is cold that should be hot - like quite a few i had.
what did i like? the opportunity, as limited as it was, to see some small bits of a pig being broken down. the opportunity to try so many different ways of having the pig, or even several different preparations of the 'same dish' by several chefs. would i go again? yes, but probably not unless i found out that a few things had been changed. it was too chaotic, hot, and crowded, and noisy to do it again the way it was this year.
overall a good showing, but there is lots of room for improvement.
i'll leave you with a few more images.
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| snouts | 7pm, but the | event went to 8... | 'nuff said |
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