Celebrating its third season as a friendly competition for a cause -- touting pork with a purpose -- Cochon 555 will convene in the Mile-High City on Sunday, April 3, 2011 at The Ritz-Carlton, Denver. The one-of-a-kind traveling culinary competition and tasting event was conceived by Brady Lowe to promote sustainable farming of heritage breed pigs. Each stop along the 10-city tour offers hard-working local farmers the opportunity to connect with like-minded agriculturalists, renowned chefs and the pork-loving public.
Top chefs from around the state, all nationally recognized as Colorado’s best, will join forces to showcase their take on a pork dish produced from a 175 pound heritage breed hog, each carefully paired with a different wine from selected wineries. Chefs lending a hand for the spirited competition are: Alex Seidel – Fruition, Frank Bonnano – Mizuna/Bones/Luca de Italia, Jennifer Jasinski –Rioja/Euclid Hall, Kelly Liken – Kelly Liken, Vail, and Lachlan Mackinnon – Frasca Food & Wine, Boulder.
The Ritz-Carlton, Denver’s very own executive chef Justin Fields will be on the panel as one of 20 judges to crown the ‘King or Queen of Porc’. Winners are selected based on presentation, utilization and overall best flavor.
Attendees will savor samplings of the chefs prepared dishes and can even take in a live face-off featuring two butchers as they show-off their skills and speed. Epicurean audiences, comprised mainly of pork lovers around the country, have enjoyed this spectacle of a ‘porkfest’, as The New York Times raved it’s a “MUST DO culinary experience.” The winner from each 10-city tour will go to go the finale event, Grand Cochon, at the FOOD & WINE Classic in Aspen, June 19, 2011.
To purchase tickets, visit www.cochon555.com. Cochon 555’s goal is to help family farms sustain and expand their businesses and to encourage breed diversity and is the only heritage breed pig culinary competition in the country.
For more information on The Ritz-Carlton, Denver, please call 303.312.3800 or visit us at The Ritz-Carlton, Denver
For more on this event and tips and pointers on how to produce good pork based meals, read the following interview from Chef Justin Fields after the jump.
