Congratulations to the new King of Porc, David Varley of Washington D.C.’s Bourbon Steak! Ten amazing chefs from different U.S. Cities participated in Grand Cochon. The votes were tallied, crowning Varley, who won a shiny new Grillworks’ 42 Asador Grill to get his heritage breed pig on.As for the Taste Network team, we are completely humbled by the support of the chefs, farms, fans and wine enthusiasts that have attended Cochon 555 events across the country. Our mission was to expose consumers to heritage breed pork in an experiential new way….10,000 responded to the pig signal/call and here are just some of the highlights from the past two years:* Served some 140 Whole heritage breed pigs (over 18,000 lbs) thanks to some of the country’s finest Chefs* Family owned wineries from California, Oregon, Washington and even Canada participated, pouring wines that make us giddy* Over 200 Judges in 2010 alone including Chris Cosentino, Jaques Pépin, Laura Werlin, Bruce Aidells and many more who positively influence our food community* Providing chefs 50 new breed introductions in top-kitchens nationwide* Ryan Farr of 4505 Meats butchering demos at each event, educating the audience one cut at a time* Xocolatl de David Chicharron Chocolate Bars and the Golden Ticket Contest* Working with the very best Culinary School students including Johnson & Wales to the Culinary Institute of America* Our hero: Alan Benton’s bacon and the infamous heritage breed luau pig presented during the events* Launched the Heritage Breed Pig Field Guide, distributing almost 10,000 guides to consumers* A media campaign that helped spread our reach through countless writers, photographers, twitter, bloggers, FoodBuzz, FaceBook, Edible and many other outlets* Book signings by Nicolette Hahn Niman, Steve Sando and Marcia Gagliardi.* Mark and Rita Newman as honored guests at several events, very cool.* Post-event celebrations celebrating whole lamb and hosted by the American Lamb Board (we love whole animal utilization)* Grand Cochon presented by Food + Wine Classic in Aspen and the ten amazing Chefs making for some very special moments…we are still pinching ourselves.What’s Next? In the coming months you can expect to see a new merchandise website (Mr. And Ms. Delicious t-shirts anyone?), a new Taste Network project we’re keeping a under-wraps for now, Protein University, Primal events in the fall and the 2011 Cochon 555 Tour. Stay tuned…
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