Cochon555 is excited to add more names to an already stellar lineup. Notable judges and celebrated somms will take part in the competition to find one chef who will be crowned for their whole pig cookery skills in addition to winning an amazing 4-day wine and gastronomy experience in Rioja, Spain’s most prominent wine region.
The event, set to take place in Miami at 1 Hotel South Beach, offers guests a unique way to sample food cultures near and far, putting the focus on a safer, more honest food system. National in scope, the culinary tour will go to 11 cities in 2018. The event also benefits a greater – and absolutely delicious – cause in the form of Piggy Bank, a farm-in-the-making devoted to sharing free heritage breed genetics with small family farms. For an in-depth look at the Cochon555 movement, watch the spotlight video, and to purchase tickets, visit the link HERE.
This year’s competing chefs include José Mendín of Habitat, Brian Nasajon of Beaker & Gray, Michael Beltran of Ariete, Santiago Gomez of Cantina La 20, and Adrienne Grenier of 3030 Ocean. The chefs prepare boldly flavored dishes in this friendly competition using whole heritage breed pigs from family farms in a nose-to-tail, whole animal showcase. A crowd of a few hundred pork-loving gourmands and twenty notable judges will score each chef on utilization, global influences, cooking techniques, overall flavor, and the “best bite of the day.”
This year’s twenty notable judges include a lineup of local luminaries such as Chef Jeremy Ford, Elad Zvi, Tony Guerra, Kiko Suarez, Gio Gutierrez, well-known Emcee Billy Harris, as well as the headline all-star butcher, Andres Barrientos of Miami Smokers.
Additionally, running in tandem with tour are a pair of internal beverage competitions. Punch Kings, features five of the city’s top barkeeps facing off in a whole-bottle punch bowl competition, challenging them to each make a large-format communal libation prepared with Breckenridge Bourbon. Competing this year are Ben Potts of Beaker & Gray, Craig Welsh of Boulud Sud, Daniel Love of Scarpetta, Rafael Vazquez of Bourbon Steak and Adrian “Moffin” Corona of Habitat.
Cochon555 also challenges five celebrated sommeliers in the third annual “Somm Smackdown” to use every bit of their accumulated knowledge and inspiration to find the best wine to pair with the dishes prepared by competing chefs. This year’s somms include Krystal Kinney of Royal Blues Hotel & Chanson Restaurant, Krista Grauberger of FallBall Group, Amanda Fraga of Amara at Paraiso, Natascha Patterer of La Centrale and Allison De Leo of Scarpetta.