At the Trough: The Wine and Swine of Napa’s Cochon 555

On a recent rainy Sunday, The historic barrel room at the Culinary Institute of America in Napa Valley become a cracklin-, lard- and offal-stuffed temple of pork. Stationed around the high-ceilinged stone room that, more than 100 years ago, served as the aging cellar for local wineries such as Charles Krug and Beringer (both just down the street), five anxious-looking chefs surrounded by a team of eager-to-please assistants and CIA students rushed to put the finishing touches on plates that artfully displayed weeks of thought, planning and, of course, lots of preparation. Each chef had managed to break down his own heritage-bred animal and, using every tendril and tendon, prepare a feast of tiny bites for a panel of professional judges and a mob of pork- and wine-lovers.

Participating in Cochon 555 is an honor: for the chefs, the winemakers and yes, even for the pigs. For those who don’t know, the “555” stands for five chefs, five pigs and five winemakers. In most major cities, the chefs are the super stars of the event (playing second banana to only the chocolate covered bacon), but in a diverse agricultural region like Napa Valley, winemakers and farmers elbow in for space at the trough.

While preserving heritage breeds and supporting the farmers who raise them is the ultimate goal of Cochon, along the way they manage to create feasts that celebrate the art of butchery, cooking and bring communities together around the proverbial table.

Or ironing board, as it were. Chris L’Hommedieu, the Chef at Michael Mina in San Francisco, and his team, wearing T-shirts graffitied with the names of pig parts, had the most creative presentation we have seen at any Cochon event to date. Ironing boards covered in red- and white-checkered oil cloths served as tables around which judges unpacked pulled pork sliders, bags of crispy pig ears, belly and offal rillettes (served with pretzel bread) and tiny chocolate cupcakes frosted with pork lard from individual “pig-nic” bags. Even the thinly sliced pickled beets and carrots were cut into the shape of a pig.

While L’Hommedieu was an early favorite, he was not to be the ultimate winner. Neither was Michael Tuohy of Dean & Deluca, in spite of the crowd pleasing chorizo mac and cheese, heart meat hot dogs and a Moroccan spiced pork and chickpea stew. It was, however, not meat, but his pickled Romanesco that had the other chef’s returning to his table throughout the night.

To cleanse the palate between nibbles of cracklin’ and rendered lard, guests were offered “Manhattans” (really just whiskey with a couple of cherries and ice) courtesy of Hudson Baby Bourbon and, another chef favorite, Anchor Steam beer. While the pig parts were offally good, the Hama Hama oysters, piquing at that exact moment it seemed, provided another much-needed break.

While wine inevitably plays a supporting role at Cochon events, this year’s producers gave the piggies a run for their money. (This is Wine Country after all). Pax Mahle, Steve Mathiasson and Abe Schoener make for a trifecta of cutting edge winemakers. Between the Wind Gap, Mathiasson and Scholium Project labels, respectively, ten different varietals from as many regions across Northern California were represented. From a whole cluster Syrah to a skin-fermented Sauvignon Blanc, tasting the wines alone would have been a treat. The fact that they paired perfectly with the jars (jars!) of bacon stocked by the Black Pig Meat Company was simply a bonus.

In the end the victory went to the host: Lars Kronmark of the CIA and his army of students will take their head terrine to the national competition this spring.

But just when you thought the pork had stopped flowing, the real feast began. Chef Jonathon Bodnar of Smoakville in Napa and Jonathon Fink of San Fran-based The Whole Beast rolled out their southern-inspired spread complete with potato salad and crispy cole slaw, which served mostly to feed the competing chefs, the winemakers and the lucky few who still weren’t stuffed. While not technically competing, The Whole Beast-Smoakville feast was widely agreed upon by all who remained to be the best of the night.

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Posted on 02.08.12 to Barbecue, Pork by Vino Veritas

At the Trough: The Wine and Swine of Napa’s Cochon 555

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At the Trough: The Wine and Swine of Napa’s Cochon 555

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Contact:

The Butcher Blog @ Gmail.com

Propaganda

The Meat Grinder

Chalkboard

Poultry Dept.

Not Complete Bullshit